New Day, New Life
by Alexandercctv
Summary: Do you know the worst thing about knowing the Future? Finding out your information is wrong. (Alternate Universe, Self Insert) ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Chapters 1 and 2now Beta-ed!

**Prologue**

I was floating, surrounded on all sides by warmth and love. I did not feel hunger or thirst, nor did I experience any pain. So you can imagine my discontent when my refuge was suddenly shattered.

**888:**

"Push, Lily, push!" James said.

"If you say push one more Merlin-forsaken time I will shove your wand so far up your arse you'll be spitting sparks," Lily said. Her normally dulcet tones were strained from the effort of giving birth. In James's carefully considered opinion it only made his Lily flower more beautiful. No matter that her eyes were practically lighting him on fire, such was the power of her glare, and even ignoring that her face was nearly the color of her beautifully flowing red locks. In James's eyes his wife—his wife, even now he could hardly believe she'd said yes—was the very definition of beauty.

"I can't believe you did this to me, you bastard. If you ever try to put that thing in me again I'm going to tear it off!" Lily said growling.

"N-now Lily flower, you don't mean that," James squeaked. The high pitched squeal that followed Lily's pronouncement was completely called for, given that sometime during their exchange her left hand had drifted down and was currently gripping a certain sensitive part of his anatomy.  
Maintaining her vice like grip she pulled him close, ignoring the slight whimper that escaped his clenched lips and practically growled in his face, "Yes I do," before releasing her hold on his bruised anatomy.

"I can see a head, one last push should do it Mrs. Potter." The calm voice of the mediwitch was a welcome distraction.

**888**

"Ok, Mrs. Potter, one more push, just one more."

And such was the story of my birth…

"Congratulations, it's a girl!"

Wait, what?!

**Chapter 1**

Growing up is difficult enough the first time, going through it a second time with the mind of a twenty-something year old adult was practically torture. Soiling myself was humiliating in and of itself, but having two or more strangers undressing my newborn—and as time passed, toddler—self, and talk about it as if it were some sort of accomplishment (new parents are weird) was the height of embarrassment in my new life. If one ignored feeding time, that is.

On an unrelated note, full body shudders of disgust, at least when a baby gives them, are apparently very cute and are responded to with copious amounts of hugs and kisses.

Humiliation aside, my early childhood—my second early childhood that is—was not that bad. I mean Potter Manor was swank for the few months that we stayed there.

Then one day, after we moved to Godric's Hollow, we got a visit from Albus Too-Many-Titles Dumbledore. Knowing what was coming I attempted to get his attention.

"Beard man," It wasn't my first time calling him beard man but it was the first time I said it in such a demanding tone. Unfortunately, demanding tones from a young toddler are at best cute and at worst a reason to cast a Calming Charm to quiet the child.

Did you know that excessive use of Calming Charms on children—especially when more effort and magic than necessary is put into said charm by overworked, tired, stressed-out, and quite frankly fed-up first time parents—has been known to have an effect not dissimilar to narcotics? So I, in essence, spent the majority of the first two years of my new life stoned out of my little mind. You know, that may explain a few things.

In all fairness Calming Charms are not generally the first response of a magical parent, but unfortunately for my new parents I was a crier, and until my vocal muscles developed enough to talk my only way to express my discontent at finding myself trapped in the body of a female toddler was to scream my little head off. Even more unfortunately I refused to be soothed by any other means, so my new parents had to make frequent use of them.

Even then Lily, or should I say mom, would have held back from charming away my attitude problem. If I had simply refrained from trying to climb Dumbledore's beard.

I don't know if it was that I was consistently ignored or the fact that I spent more time dreading Voldemort's eventual arrival than actually being able to do anything about it, but I could not restrain myself from trying to tell Dumbledore about Voldemort's impending visit.

Of course simply telling him was out of the question. I could barely wrap my lips around 'beard man' let alone Voldemort, so that meant I would have to get Dumbledore to read my mind. I knew that my plan to get the headmaster to read my mind had a very low chance of success, but given that my attempts to warn my new parents about Voldemort's coming attack were continually ignored and frequently left me crying tears of frustration—which of course lead to more Calming Charms—I simply had to give it a try.

This of course did not happen. Instead, after attempting to scale Mt. Beard, I was hit by an especially powerful Calming Charm, a necessity given that I was beginning to develop something of a resistance to them, and summarily tucked into bed.

**888**

I didn't know if it was because of my past life where I had no magic or if there was some other reason, but whatever the cause I was able to sense something. First and most strongly in Potter Manor, and then again when we moved to Godric's Hollow, especially once the Fidelius Charm was cast, I could feel the very magic in the air. Even knowing where and who I was, it took an embarrassingly long time for me to realize that it was magic I was sensing.

Magic, at least the way I felt it, did not directly translate into the usual five senses. Instead it manifested as a mixture of pressure and, at times, taste and smell. It was all these feelings and just more in a way that I cannot adequately explain.

I bring this up now so that I can explain just how it felt when Voldemort came for me that fateful Halloween day.

**888**

I woke with a start. It took me a while to wake up enough to realize just what had disturbed me enough to shake me out of my magically assisted slumber. There was nothing amiss as far as I could tell in my nursery, nor could I hear anything from the rest of the house—which unfortunately meant nothing given that my mother had set a one-way Silencing Charm on my room in an effort to help me sleep, so while they could hear me I could hear nothing from beyond the bounds of my room as long as the door was closed.

Still, something was very wrong. My eyes widened as it hit me; the wards were down. No. No. No, it's too soon, he can't be here yet, we weren't ready! A few more days and I was sure I could get them to leave, even if it meant revealing myself to them, even if it meant risking everything this new life could offer, if I only had more time I could have gotten them to leave, I was sure of it!  
It was then that Lily—no, my mom came running into the room, and behind her came this cloying feeling. That could only be Voldemort's magic. Normally if I wanted to get more than an ambient feeling of the local magic I would have to really focus on it, but I had no such problem feeling the magic Voldemort projected.

His magic was horrible, it felt as if it were trying to smother me where I stood at the bars of my crib. It reeked of death, of rotting corpses at high noon, and tasted of schadenfreude, as if he took great pleasure in seeing his enemies suffer. More than all that, though, was a sense of overwhelming power. 

I had tried to feel my new parents' magic before, but all I could get from them was a slight feeling of love. Occasionally I even tried to get a feel of Dumbledore's magic on the rare visits he paid my parents, and aside from a slight taste of lemon strangely enough, all I could get from him was a bare hint of power. That, while more than I could sense from my parents, was mere embers compared to the fire of this monster.

If I had not been paralyzed by his power I would have thrown up. As it was, all I could do was watch while Lily set down… nothing? As she placed it on the floor I saw part of her hand disappear. An invisibility cloak—or rather, the Cloak of Invisibility. Before I could start to wonder what she was doing with the cloak, aside from grabbing me and using it to get the hell out of here, she waved her wand and activated some sort of runic diagram that she must have prepared beforehand. There was scream that went on for several long seconds before I heard a loud crash from below.

"_Obsecro domine benedicere vili mors animae est admissus,_"Lily had started chanting.  
_  
Thump_. Voldemort had stated up the stairs.  
_  
"Hoc unum petit vestra"_

_Thump_

_"Si placet tibi ut redirem legitime"_

_Thump_

_"tu autem Domine mortem rogo tantum ut serves hanc filiam meam."_

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

_"quaeso"_

There was a flash and then the diagram, and the cloak with it, disappeared. With a quick wave of her wand Lily removed the last traces of what had transpired before moving to stand in front of my crib.

_Thump_

There he was, coming down the hall, calmly as if he had all the time in the world. Tall, even for a man, with strong shoulders and a chiseled chin with a twisted smirk adorning his face. His eyes shone with an unholy red light, but in spite of it all he was beautiful. I could easily see how he could draw a following.

"Stand aside, Mrs. Potter," Voldemort said. His voice was low, each word carefully pronounced so that there could be no mistaking his meaning.

"No, take me instead!" Lily's voice on the other hand was shaky. In fact, her whole body was trembling. I could not see her face from here but, if how tight she held her shoulders was any indication, I would say that her face was drawn and her lips would be pinched.

"I will not ask again," Voldemort said. There was a palpable menace in his voice, and his magic, which I had slowly begun to acclimate to, surged with renewed strength. If he always projected this feeling it was no wonder that no one except Dumbledore had been able to stand up to him. I could see the effect it had on her. Lily hunched inward before throwing her arm forward with a speed that I had never before seen from her and, for a moment, I thought she had a chance.

Voldemort didn't speak, barely even moved. A nearly imperceptible twitch of his wand and the Killing Curse hit her before her arm could even finish extending. Just like that my new mother was dead. I felt a bit of me die with her. I already had parents and she wasn't one of them, but she loved me unconditionally as a mother should and I couldn't help but return it even if I missed my other life.

"Such a waste, Severus will be so disappointed." His words held a mocking edge. I froze as he turned his gaze to me. "So you are to be my end, hmm? The spawn of a blood traitor and a mudblood whore. I think not. _Avada Kedavra!_"

When the spell hit me I finally, mercifully, lost consciousness.

**888**

8 years later, 2001

Privet Drive was a study of contrasts. Its houses were, to the last, identical in every way. The lawns were all neatly trimmed, the children were all well behaved lest they suffer their parents' wrath, and its residents were all very, very normal. Some, though, went to great pains to ensure that they were more normal than the others.

Take for example the Dursleys. Their hedges were trimmed, the grass was never more than an inch and a half in height, and the garbage was always put on the curb no more than one hour before pick-up. I knew this because it was my responsibility to ensure that it was so, just like it was my responsibility to cook breakfast twice and lunch once a week. Sundays were my usual lunch days as only good normal folk went to church, at least if one believes what uncle Vernon has to say on the matter. Whatever his opinion of me, though, it certainly did not stop him from inhaling the food I cooked for him, no doubt contributing to his already significant and robust form.

I for one was glad to have the time to myself. Even if most of it was spent preparing a veritable feast for Sunday brunch I could use it as time to plan for the future.

I had long since gotten used to the fact that I had somehow wound up in the Harry Potter universe. The fact that I was now a girl was something that I was okay with, and the fact that I was okay with it was a little disturbing to me. Not that there was anything wrong with being a girl, but you'd think a sudden shift in gender would have bothered me, but no matter how hard I tried I could not manage to feel uncomfortable in my own skin. To be honest, though, I didn't dwell on it much, I had more important things to worry about.

Such as how I found myself in what I had thought to be a fictional universe. Not simply as a nice safe background character, but as the stand-in to Harry Potter himself. What it did mean, though, was that I—joy of joys—now had a destiny.

It might have been easier if I had by some miracle managed to be dropped in here as a minor side character like Luna Lovegood, or say Sally-Anne Perks, who managed to go to Hogwarts, get an education, and leave before the second war with Voldemort really got going again without anyone even noticing. Which incidentally would have been my plan. With the minor revision of leaving Dumbledore a list of the Horcruxes, their locations, and the best ways to deal with them. Which meant she had stolen my plan. Bitch. She stole my plan without even leaving clues for Dumbledore. Lazy bitch.

Given that I'm the bloody Chosen One, though, that plan is closed to me. Hence my current plan, which at the moment consisted mostly of a list of possible friends and supplies I thought necessary to survive the coming ordeals.

Speaking of, I glanced at the clock, it's almost time for the Dursleys to get back from church. I finished the sausages before placing them on the table with the rest of the food. A quick look around the table revealed nothing amiss. With a satisfied nod I cleaned up what little mess there was. The kitchen was to be kept as clean possible at all times, especially when expecting company.

Just in time I hear the cars pull into the drive and I head to the front door. Opening the door, I greeted the family that my own family was trying to impress today.

"Good morning Mister Jensen, how are you today?" I said. Tall, fit, and incredibly smart, Mr. Jensen was on the short list for CEO of Grunnings for his work as the Vice-President of International Markets. Which meant that he was someone that Vernon needed to impress if he ever wanted get that promotion to Senior Manager. A feat made easier because of Mr. Jensen's weakness for my homemade blood pudding. How anyone can eat that stuff I don't know but he loves it.

"Quite well Miss Alex, and you?" Mr. Jensen said. As we exchanged pleasantries I took his and his family's outer wear to hang in the cupboard under the stairs. My chores, of which this was one, were a part of my understanding with my aunt; as long as I completed them in a timely manner, kept my grades up—and Dudley's grades as well, not that Aunt Petunia was aware of just how much of Dudley's good grades were my doing—and kept out of the way, I was left mostly to my own devices.

"Oh, I'm doing well. The food is ready. If you just head to the dining room you can seat yourselves, and I made extra blood pudding for you and put it in the fridge." I say this without ever dropping my pleasant smile, which was mostly genuine if slightly wooden. With that he headed to the dining room at a faster clip than was really necessary.

Vernon passed me with barely a glance and Dudley followed close behind, though he did keep enough presence of mind to give me a respectful nod, a feat that took him bringing home good grades for once and seeing just how pleased it made Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

"Everything's perfect?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"Of course Aunt Petunia, I know how much this promotion would mean to the family." My smile shifted to something more genuine as I turned to face her. Aunt Petunia looked nothing like the actress that played her in the movies or how most fanfictions portrayed her. I never read the books, but it was a safe bet that she didn't look like that either. Instead she was actually quite beautiful, with long strawberry blonde hair and symmetrical features. Honestly, why she chose to marry Vernon of all people is beyond me, but love is blind.

Loud guffaws rang from the dining room... And deaf. Love is blind and deaf.

"Thank you, dear. Are you going to the library today?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"Yes ma'am," I replied.

"Good, good, here's 20 quid. Be back by dark and make sure you get something to eat for dinner," She said. With that she went inside.

I gave the money a long look as I headed upstairs to get changed. It was far from the first time that Aunt Petunia had gone out of her way be nice, but I found myself surprised each time. In most fanfictions the Dursleys were portrayed as negligent at best or so abusive that Lifetime would jump at the chance to make a movie about them. In reality, or at least in this reality, Aunt Petunia was consistently kind, Dudley was respectful which admittedly took a lot of effort on my part, and Vernon was the worst of the lot with him just ignoring me.

What could have caused that change I didn't know, but I had my suspicions that it had something to do with just how different Aunt Petunia looked compared to how I expected her to be, which did lend credence to my theory that this was universe was not canon compliant.

I shook my head. Whatever the truth I was I wasn't going to figure it out by wool gathering.

**888**

I had not been entirely honest with Aunt Petunia; while I did plan on going to the library, I would only be going if my other plans fell through. Which, admittedly, they had an unfortunate tendency to do. So I did not in fact feel guilty about misleading her as to my whereabouts. Now, if only my stomach would stop turning I might actually be able to call the Knight Bus this time.

Once I was far enough away from Privet Drive I ducked into an alley and, after looking around to ensure that I was all alone, pulled out my hand mirror. Looking at my refection I thanked my lucky stars that I had read more than a fair bit of Harry Potter fanfiction, because if I hadn't I may have never discovered that I had some latent Metamorphmagus abilities. It only let me change my skin color and hair length as well as my hair's color. Nowhere near a versatile as the full list of abilities that some fanfics gave Metamorphmagi. Still, I was very happy with it, and because it was the only form of magic I could get to work I practiced with it at every opportunity.

I had gotten so good at it that I could give myself multiple contrasting color patterns both on my hair and skin. My favorite change though is making myself look like a Zabrak, the red alien from the first Star Wars prequel. It took me forever to get my hair to look like bone, and it was still not quite right, but you would only be able to tell that if you actually touched one of the spurs.

As it was I spent the majority of my time looking like a picture-perfect recreation of my mother. I had already looked almost exactly like her, eerily so, and it only took a slight darkening of my hair and a slightly brighter shade of green for my eyes to make them match, which was my plan to ensure Snape saw my mother when he looked at me and not his hated school rival.

Still, once I finished turning my hair black and shorting it to just below my shoulders, I darkened my skin a few shades and finally moved my curse scar from my forehead to my back. Given that it was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes I could not simply get rid of it. My preparations complete, I put my mirror away and left the alley to try to call the Knight Bus again.

When I said that the only bit of magic I could get to work was my Metamorphmagus abilities I was being entirely honest. At least once a month the past year I would leave Privet Drive and attempt to summon the Knight Bus and each time I would be met with failure. I had tried focusing on my magic, calling for it, driving myself into a panic before calling for it and still the damned thing refused to show up.

It was supposed to come to any Witch or Wizard in need. I was in need, dammit, so why the hell was it ignoring me?! I stayed there for ten minutes before finally giving up and going to the library, where I checked out a few fun reads and a book on meditation.

888

June 2002

_Dear Ms Potter_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

My Hogwarts acceptance letter had finally arrived a few days ago. I knew it was coming, but... I was comfortable. I was safe. I was loved and treated with respect. Did I really want to go to Hogwarts? A place where, if canon was anything to go by, I would be expected to be some larger than life savior? And where, when I inevitably failed to live up to those expectations, I would be reviled for my perceived failures.

More important though was the fact that as long as I stayed here the blood wards would ensure that I was safe, at least from Voldemort. That was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? I did not want to face him again. The night he came for me was the worst night of my life, in this life and the last. He walked through some of the strongest wards as if they were nothing and killed my parents almost without breaking stride.

I could feel my chest tightening and my breath was starting to come in loud gasps. He murdered them, and I couldn't do anything about it. To this day my feelings for the Potters were a confusing mess, but they had died trying to protect me. They had died for me and they had damn well earned the right to be called my parents. If I had just tried a little bit harder I could have gotten them to leave, if I had stopped worrying about them finding out about my past life I could have… goddammit, I could have done something!  
I reached under my bed for the paper bag I kept there for occasions like this. This was not the first time I had required it, unfortunately.

I did not want anyone else dying for me, but really, what choice did I have? It's not like the Wizarding world would simply let me not go to Hogwarts. Okay, deep breaths Alex, just calm down and think. It took a few minutes but I was able to, slowly, get my breathing under control.

Voldemort was not the type of person to just let things go, so simply staying here was out of the question, because if I did stay here he would find a way through the wards. Even if, and it was a big if, he was unable to find a way to bring the wards down there was only so long that I could hide behind them. Food would quickly become an issue, admittedly not as quickly as it would for most other houses—it took a lot of food to keep Vernon fed. Even that would only become a problem if Voldemort or one of his minions didn't manage to catch me outside the wards first.

With that in mind I dried my tears, took a deep breath and headed downstairs to find Aunt Petunia.

**888**

"Aunt Petunia, we need to talk," I said.

"Okay dear, I'll be there in a second," She said. It was a good thing we were alone today, Vernon was at work and Dudley was at Piers' house. This talk was going to difficult enough without having to deal with them on top of the emotions this talk was sure to generate.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Aunt Petunia said. Having joined me at the table she gave me a concerned look. Okay Alex, it's time. With a deep breath I reached into my shirt pocket and set my Hogwarts letter on the table. "Oh," her voice was soft as she stared at the parchment.

"Aunt Petunia?" I asked. Are you ok? Do you still love me? Please don't hate me.

I knew that I was being emotional and that it wasn't like this was going to make her reject me. Probably. Hopefully. Right?

"I had hoped that with the way they dumped you here that there was something that kept you from being one of them." Aunt Petunia said. I had wondered, given how different things were, if Dumbledore had just left me on the front step like he did in canon.

"Dropped off?" I asked.

"They left you on the front step all bundled up with a letter stuck to you saying Lily was dead and to take care of you," Aunt Petunia said. I cringed. Really Dumbledore, her sister is murdered and you just leave a note? Your sister's dead, but here's your consolation prize.

"As if I needed a note to tell me to take care of you. She was my sister and after everything Lily did for me… Anyway, taking care of you is the least I could do," She finished. True, but I was not expecting you to be so nice about it. I mean Dudley was blatantly the favorite but I received my fair share of love and attention. From her at least; Vernon was another matter entirely. I got clothes bought just for me, something Vernon grumbled about, but he came around when Aunt Petunia pointed out that dressing a girl in Dudley's old things would raise more than a few eyebrows. More than that though were the presents I would sometimes get from her, small things but they were sweet and showed me that she cared.

"Of course it wasn't long after you started living here that I knew that you would be going back one way or another," Aunt Petunia said, her smile bittersweet. "You are not as discreet as you think you are." She cut her eyes to me and her smile turned devious.

"W-what do mean?" I asked. What does she know? How could she know? I was always very careful to make sure I was alone before I started practicing.

"What do I mean? Two words: Star Wars." She said. Okay, so she knows. But _how_ in the hell does she know?

"I'm sure I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about." I turned my nose up and closed my eyes trying, and failing, to stop the blush working its way up my neck and the smile tugging at my lips. I had never been a good liar. I suffered from the condition known as liar's delight, which meant that any time I felt like I was getting away with something I wasn't supposed to I started smiling. Not a small one either, a big face-splitting grin that gave me away to even the most oblivious of people. My Aunt is many things, normal foremost among them and she would happily choke a bitch if they implied otherwise, but oblivious is not one of them. So it was no surprise when she let loose an unladylike sniff and rolled her eyes at my words.

"Please Alex, I opened the bathroom door to put some linens away and what do I see but my niece trying to win a staring contest with the mirror while the shower is running," here she paused to give me a brief glare. "I was about to say something when all of a sudden you started changing color and posing," Oh God, she didn't... "and saying, what was it?" She did. "Oh yes, 'Tremble fool, for you do not know the power of the Dark Side!' Did I get that right?" By now my face had met the table and my blush was visible from space, even from behind my arms.

"So that's why you got me that Extended Universe book," it all made sense now. Aunt Petunia just smiled.

**888**

3 days later

After that it was just a matter of sending a request for someone to come to the house using the PO-Box that Aunt Petunia used to write Mom when she went to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall's response came yesterday saying that a representative would be by tomorrow at noon on the dot. So of course Vernon made me return my library books and I, of course, lost track of time reading.

I looked at my watch as I made my way down the alley. 11:51, bloody hell I'm going to be late. If I run I might make it in time, but if I run I would undoubtedly arrive a sweaty mess. Late or mess, mess or late, nether one was a good option. Professor McGonagall was sure to be annoyed either way and if they sent Snape my whole plan to avoid aggravating him would be over before it could even begin.

As I was debating the pros and cons of sweaty vs late I noticed someone walking down the alley. I thought nothing of it, this was a frequently traveled shortcut after all. Not to mention that it was still daylight so the odds against a perv trying to get his jollies, at least in this neighborhood, were low.

So I was completely surprised when, as we were passing each other, he whirled around and slammed me into the alley wall.

"Potter," he practically growled at me. Potter? So not a perv, joy. I hadn't even gotten my wand yet. Does this guy have no sense of decorum? If his breath was anything to go by the answer was no.

"Tic-Tac," I snarked. His hand was squeezing my neck, in fact he was holding me up by my neck. Air was rapidly becoming a problem. Even so I couldn't give up an opportunity to quip in the face of death. It was traditional.

"What?" he said. I wasn't imagining it, he was growling at me and with how easily he was holding me with just one hand clued me in that he may not be human.

"You need a Tic-Tac." I attempted to say this in the most condescending upper crust accent possible. His grip was so tight though that what came out was less posh and more 'I smoke ten packs a day'. Still, I got the point across if I was reading his expression right.

"I was already going to kill you, but now I'm going to take my time," He said, his grin impossibly wide, before he leaned close. I had not been idle during our exchange. While I distracted him with my stunning wit I had pulled my switchblade from my pants pocket. Once I got it out I waited until he'd leaned forward enough, then I rammed it straight up through the bottom of his jaw, which should have put him out of commission. Regrettably no one told him that, because as soon as I finished ramming it in he threw me down the alley.

"You bitch!" He reached up and casually pulled my knife out of his jaw and tossed it aside. Okay, this fight is way out of my league. Time to run.

"Well now, that's enough o' that now isn't it?" How I missed him I have no idea, but Hagrid had suddenly appeared behind my attacker holding a sword of all things. As surprised as I was, my attacker was even more surprised. He spun around raising his fists as he did so, but before he could do anything Hagrid gutted him with a swift cut before stepping back to avoid the flood of blood from his stomach, and then he removed his head.  
At this point the thing had stopped looking human and, as I looked, his entire body turned black before catching fire and quickly turning to ash. I turned to face Hagrid and gave him a questioning look.

"Red Court," Hagrid answered my unasked question. Red Court vampires were recurring villains in the Dresden Files. They walked around in a skin suit and regularly made slaves out of people using their addictive saliva. "They're bad little beasties." Hagrid was tall, twelve feet if he was an inch, with a beard more like a scraggly lion's mane than anything else, and he had a strong West Country accent.

"Sword?" I asked stunned. I honestly had no idea how to react, wasn't Hagrid supposed to be a nice gentle soul?

"Sword? No this is jus' me belt knife," Hagrid answered. Belt knife, sure. He finished cleaning his s-belt knife and put it away. "So, ready to go? I already talked to yer Auntie, said I'd be comin' by to get yeh before headin' over to Diagon Alley."

"… Yeah, sure." My mind was running in overdrive. Red Court vampires. They're not part of canon, hell they're supposed to be part of another universe entirely. I shook my head to clear it and grabbed my knife before following Hagrid out of the alley. I really need some history books.

**888**

Headmaster's Office that evening

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was a man with many names. He was also a man with many titles, but most importantly he was a man with many masks. His favorite was the one he spent the most time cultivating, that of the doting if eccentric grandfatherly teacher. His entire office was designed to enforce this image.

"Come in, Hagrid," Dumbledore said. Portraits are useful things if you manage to befriend them or if you could command them. He tried to make friends with them but if that failed he could, as Headmaster, command them. Thankfully that was rarely necessary, as with the hidden portrait he had in the stairway to his office that let him know who was coming. That, and a simple charm let him know when someone was about to knock. A small trick, but one he quite enjoyed.

"So how was your trip with young Miss Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"It was grand, it was. Looks exactly like her mother and she kept asking questions the whole trip, especially 'bout the Vampire Courts. Real curious, that one, jus' like her mum," Hagrid responded. Now why would she be asking about the Vampire Courts? Dumbledore knew that muggle literature was filled with so-called good vampires, but for her to take such an interest in the real thing was somewhat disconcerting. What could have prompted her to ask about them in the first place? It wasn't as if Diagon Alley was likely to have anything about them. Except, perhaps, in the history books.

"Why, that is good to hear, Hagrid. So do you think she'll follow her parents' example and go to Gryffindor? Or perhaps she's more of a Ravenclaw?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Gryffindor fer sure. She handled the Red Court beastie like a champ she did! Had him on the run before I even got there," Hagrid said. You could hear the pride in his voice as he described the encounter.

"I'm sure she did, my boy. Now if you'll excuse me I have some paperwork to do," Dumbledore said.

"Of course, of course. Have a good one, Professor," Hagrid responded. With that he left.

"That's not good. That's not good at all," Dumbledore muttered aloud. Fawkes let loose a hard trill from his perch where he had been for the entire conversation. "You may be right, my friend. Perhaps it is time to get back in touch with some old friends." Now how best to phrase this. Taking his quill he wrote a short letter before giving it to Fawkes. "Would you be willing to deliver this, Fawkes?" An affirmative trill was his only response before Fawkes burned away.

**888**

The Silk Rose, late that night

The Silk Rose was the place for the elite of magical Britain to come and wash away their stress. From simple massages to deep tissue potion treatments and a full service staff, the Silk Rose offered everything its clients could possibly want. On the off chance that they didn't have exactly what you were looking for the staff would happily acquire it for you and, for a nominal fee, would ensure that they had it on hand for future visits no matter what or who your taste might be. But most importantly the staff did this with complete confidentiality. It was for this reason that the Silk Rose had been serving its customers' needs for nearly five hundred years.

"Thank you for the tea my dear," Dumbledore said as he sat in Madam Sofia's office, which was tastefully decorated in a soothing combination of black and purple.

"It's a pleasure to serve the Chief Warlock," Madam Sofia said. Some women were cute, others were beautiful. Madam Sofia however was someone who's every action screamed sex. She caressed each word as she said them, giving her the best come hither voice Dumbledore had ever had the pleasure of hearing. "Though I must admit some surprise to seeing you here. You've never graced us with your presence before, but I'm positive that whatever you desire we here at the Silk Rose are more than able to meet your needs."

"I can't tell you how happy that makes me, because, you see, I have a slight problem and I think that you're the only one who can help me," Dumbledore said and Madam Sofia made an inquisitive sound that did _things_ to her lips, while subtly shifting her posture to better emphasize her considerable assets. Dumbledore's voice changed as he continued, taking on a harsh edge. "Some fool attacked one of my students today."

"Oh my, that's awful! I hope the poor dear is alright, but I don't see what that has to do with me," Madam Sofia said, a slight tightening of her eyes the only indication that his words had affected her.

"It has to do with you because it was a member of the Red Court that attacked her," Dumbledore said, his normally twinkling eyes shining with rage.

"That's impossible. As you well know, I'm the only one of my coven that has sufficient age to walk in the light of day. If by some chance one of my kin did attack one of your students it was not by my order nor was it one of mine that did so," Madam Sofia protested.

"Your story would have more merit had I not used a Time-Turner to go back and observe the attack myself." Dumbledore tossed a ring on her desk, taking a dark pleasure in her slight flinch. "Once Miss Potter had made it to safety I examined the scene and found this little trinket. It took some digging, but I managed to divine its purpose. It strengthens any glamour derived from the Nevernever."

"Sounds useful, but—" Madam Sofia tried to protest.

"Madam, you attacked a child, one whom I have taken an interest in, and I will not stand for it," Dumbledore said, his voice dangerously low.

"Come off it, Dumbledore! You've certainly never taken notice before when I've done business in the past—" Madam Sofia said her voice scathing.

"Silence!" Dumbledore said, releasing the power he usually worked so hard to keep contained. It filled the room, causing the walls to shake and Madam Sofia to freeze up. "It's true that I have, in the past, been forced to ignore your business practices. Now, though, you have overstepped your bounds. Attacking The Girl Who Lived, have you lost your mind? That poor girl has already lost so much, and I fear the road she must walk will only get harder from here, but I intend to ensure that she has as much joy in her life as possible."

"I have official dispensation from the Wizengamot," Madam Sofia said, her voice taking a panicked edge. It was true that she did have official permission to operate. Before the recent war with the White Council, the Silk Rose would never have been talked about in polite company let alone be given official leave to operate in Wizarding Britain. The White Council's rocky relationship with the official government of wanded magicians though made it politically convenient to give the Red Court a boon that cost the politicians nothing and gave the White Council the proverbial middle finger. "You can't touch me!"

"Grindelwald thought much the same," was all Dumbledore said before he sent a high powered cutting charm at her neck. For a moment nothing happened, then Madam Sofia's head fell from her shoulders and landed on her desk with a sickening squelch. Killing was never easy, should never be easy, but it was at times necessary. Killing Red Court vampires while unpleasant, especially when they used their flesh masks to look human, was entirely necessary. Their entire war with the White Council started because one of the White Council's Wizards in Chicago could not sit idly by and let them prey on innocents, and neither would Dumbledore.

Her death activated the wards Dumbledore had set up earlier. With a final sip of his tea he stood and faced the door, just in time for it to fly off its hinges. A swipe of his wand sent it back through the doorway, pulping the vampire about to enter. Another wave and the three behind that one lost their heads. A slash, and the entire wall exploded, killing the rest of those in the hallway. That done he stepped past the wreckage and continued throughout the building. The wards would ensure that no one would make it out until he was done.

**888**

An hour later, outside the Silk Rose

Commander of the Wardens Anastasia Luccio was a professional, she had been to more interesting places and killed more interesting monsters in her life than most people ever heard of. So when she received a request from Dumbledore asking for help with a coven of Red Court vampires she was not surprised. Annoyed that it had taken the wanded idiots this long to realize just what they were dealing with simply for the chance to snub the White Council, but not surprised.

When Dumbledore had contacted her she had wanted to assemble a group of Wardens to hit the Silk Rose. Sadly the only one available was Warden Chandler. A raid like this required at least five Wardens to be done safely. With no other Wardens available she would have settled for a squad of Aurors, but this raid wasn't sanctioned by the Ministry. Which meant that they had to get creative. When she told Dumbledore this the old fool had walked, calmly as you pleased, right through the front door. Calling out over his shoulder for her to ensure the wards didn't fail.

"So, how long till he calls us in, do you think?" Warden Chandler was talented. Sadly he was also young and he knew just how good he was, so he had a tendency to speak without thinking things through.

"He won't," Luccio said.

"There must be at least a hundred Reds in there!" Chandler's voice had turned incredulous. "I know the wanded types think he's the second coming of Merlin but surely he can't have bought his own hype."

"What hype, my boy?" Dumbledore said. Chandler had turned to address Captain Luccio, so he was unable to see Dumbledore as he walked out the now burning Silk Rose, coming to a stop just behind Chandler. As such Chandler loosed a—manly sounding, he'd assure her—squeal while spinning around and launching a bolt of lightning from his cane as he did so. The lightning splashed harmlessly against Dumbledore's shield. "Are you alright? You seem a little high strung. Perhaps a lemon drop to soothe your nerves?" Butter would not melt in Dumbledore's mouth.

"I assume you being here means that the Reds are taken care of." Luccio's only indication of amusement was a slight upturn of her lips.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, his face losing its amused demeanor. "Yes it is. Thank you for the information on the ring and the intelligence on just who was in there. It proved invaluable tonight."

A nod was Luccio's only response. With that she began to walk away and Dumbledore called Fawkes to take him back to his office. Leaving Chandler there with his mouth soundlessly moving as his gaze went back and forth trying to figure out what just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**Tearful Goodbyes and Hellos**

September 1st

Aunt Petunia and I sat in a heavy silence as she drove me to King's Cross station. The past month had been an ordeal, to say the least. My going to Hogwarts was enough of an issue in and of itself, so that meant that Hagrid had to add fuel to an already volatile situation by mentioning my encounter with the Red Court vampire.

Thankfully they were too stunned by the news to react properly so I was able to see him off before the fireworks got started. Aunt Petunia had her head in her hands and was shaking and Vernon's face was rapidly turning purple. Dudley... well, Dudley just looked confused. Vernon looked ready to go tearing off after Hagrid. Whether it was due to concern for me or for his source of blood sausages I couldn't say, but remembering how easily Hagrid had handled my attacker I managed to convince Vernon to stay inside.

It was touch and go for a while but I managed to calm everyone down. Which I was thankful for, because there was talk of us moving to the colonies—their words not mine—and while I may be a proud Texan at heart, if the little I was able to read on it was anything to go by, Magical America was not a safe place to live in by any stretch of the imagination.

"Alex," Aunt Petunia said, pulling me from my thoughts, and I noticed that we were already parked. "We're here." Her knuckles were white from their tight grip on the steering wheel.

"I, uh, thanks for the ride," I said, pausing a moment to see if she would say anything, before opening my door and getting out. I was in the middle of retrieving my trunk, which was charmed to be feather light, when Aunt Petunia threw her door open, ran over to me and drew me into a tight hug. "Wha...?"

"You be careful, you hear me?" She said. Her grip was almost painful and her voice was rough as she continued, "I already lost my sister to this magic nonsense, don't let me lose you too."

"I will Aunt Petunia, promise," I said. It hurt to lie to her about this, but what choice did I have? I had a maniac out trying to kill me. For the next seven years at least I would have to take risks and be in danger whether I wanted to or not. Still, that didn't mean I had to be dumb about it. After taking care of the Horcruxes, or telling Dumbledore about them so he could take care of them, I would kill Voldemort with a sniper rifle from half a mile away. Though where I was going to get a sniper rifle, let alone learn how to use it, I did not know. At least, that was my current plan. "I promise I'll be careful."

"Good, and make sure you come back for Christmas," Aunt Petunia said, a pleading note in her voice. I nodded and with one last squeeze she let go, ruffled my hair, then got in the car and left. I sighed and glanced at my wand—holly and phoenix feather, what else—that I had been fingering the whole way here.

I still remembered how it felt when I got it. It was as if I was made whole, my magic felt both closer to the surface and calmer at the same time. It was intense.

"Well, enough stalling. Time to get this over with." I took a deep breath and went to meet my destiny.

My oddly train-shaped destiny.

**888**

_Hermione_, Hogwarts Express

I was excited. I was on a magic train headed towards a magic castle to learn magic from real life magic teachers. Up until a few months ago, if someone had said magic was real, let alone that there was an entire community of magic users hidden in the middle of London, I would not have believed them. In point of fact I would have gone on to tell said person just how unlikely I found it to be and quoted multiple sources so back up my viewpoint. Perhaps I would say to this proverbial person that they may want to go and see a doctor about their condition—there is medication for that now, you know? That was before Professor McGonagall had come to my home and made father levitate with a wave of her wand.

I had gotten to King's Cross station early and had already picked out a compartment, and was eagerly awaiting the coming trip and the possibility of making new friends—friends that I could impress with my hard-won knowledge of magic; some of those books were quite dry, thank you very much—when a head of fiery red hair opened the compartment door and asked if she could please join me. Then, after I said yes, she put her trunk away and sat down across from me.

"So, my name's Alexandrea Potter. What's yours?" The redhead Alexandrea Potter's voice was upbeat.

"Are you really? I've read all about you, you know. How you defeated the Dark Lord and stopped the last war. Is it true that he had red eyes?" I would have gone on had she not started laughing. I ducked my head, my first chance to make a new friend and she's already laughing at me. It was just like primary school all over again.

"I'm... hah, sorry, I'm not laughing at you, it's just I was all ready for people to freak out when they heard my name, but I didn't think someone would ask me about his eyes!" I sunk deeper into my seat and my blush deepened. "But yes I am, that's what they say, and yes he did have red eyes, bright red in fact. I don't think I caught your name." Alexandrea's head tilted to the left and a warm smile crossed her lips.

"Hermione. That is, my name is Hermione Granger. Pleased to meet you." Honestly, at least tell her your name first before you start talking her ear off.

"Pleased to meet you. Call me Alex." Alex offered me her hand and a beaming smile. Perhaps making friends wouldn't be so hard after all.

**888**

_Alex_

Hermione was just like what I expected her to be—smart, inquisitive, and energetic. Still, it was weird to see her so young with the bushy hair and buck teeth. I suppose I was subconsciously thinking of Hermione's older self when I pictured meeting her.

"So what house do you think you'll be in? I'm hoping for Ravenclaw myself," I asked. I had put a lot of thought on which house I should try for. They all had their good points. That said, I planned to spend a lot of time researching spells and I liked reading, as in I spent most if not all of my free time reading, so Ravenclaw seemed like the best fit.

"I plan to try for Gryffindor. It was Dumbledore's house when he went to Hogwarts, you know," Hermione replied giddily. Her enthusiasm was infectious. I could feel my nerves easing.

"I had heard that. Still, you seem to be more of a Ravenclaw, why would you want to go to Gryffindor? Is that were your parents went?" I might not be able to lie, but pretending ignorance was much easier.

"What? No, my parents are dentists, I want to go to Gryffindor because that's where Dumbledore went and he's the greatest wizard of our age," Hermione said. Did she even breathe once during that whole speech? Hermione going to Gryffindor wasn't going to stop me from being friends with her, but it would make it more difficult and she wouldn't be happy there.

"Dentists, really? That's fun," try as I might I couldn't keep the slight grimace off my face. Dudley and I's last dentist visit ended with more than one root canal, for both me and Dudley. Needless to say I would be happy if I never returned to the Dentist's Office.

"Not really, no." Hermione was smiling as she said this, so I think she caught my reaction.

"Sorry, just my last visit was unpleasant," to say the least.

"No problem, that's the usual reaction. Daddy says that most people would rather hear that they have cancer from their doctor than get a call from the dentist." What were her parents' names again? I'm sure it was mentioned somewhere. Unfortunately my memories of my last life were not as clear as I would like, so at least until I mastered Occlumency, something which Diagon Alley had nothing on, I was forced to make do with half-remembered tidbits of information.

"Yeah, I—" was as far as I got before someone opened the door.

"Is Alex Potter in here? I know she's on the train, Father told me. So is she in here?" Ah, Draco Malfoy. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a sense of entitlement that seemed to permeate him. With how different this universe is, Red Court vampires and the White Council came to mind, I was wondering if Draco might have changed for the better. I had managed to avoid him on my trip to Diagon Alley, so this was my first time meeting him. Fortunately it seems my worries of leather pants were unfounded.

"That'd be me. Who, may I ask, are you?" Just because he was, apparently, the same little douche from canon didn't mean I couldn't be polite. I didn't need more enemies—Voldemort was more than enough, thank you very much.

"Draco Malfoy." He pronounced it with a slight elongation of the 'a' in Draco. Odd, why would he say it like that? "And these are Crabbe and Goyle," again with the slight elongations. What's going on? My eyes widened as it hit me—Vampire Courts, the White Council, Dresden.

True Names.

True Names—a capital N is definitely called for here—are dangerous. If you knew someone's Name, and you had magic, you had power over them. It was comparable to having a guided missile, except targeted specifically at a person and loaded with whatever magic you put into it. Perhaps a better comparison would be Voodoo dolls; put something of the targets, their blood or hair for example, on one and you could cause them great misfortune. Only, if you knew their Name you didn't need the doll, hair or blood. The Name alone was more than enough.

Everyone had their own Name, usually what you were named at birth, but it tended to change over time when the way you viewed yourself changed. At least if I was remembering that correctly. I just gave my True Name to Hermione. Not that she was likely to abuse it, and if she did I had hers too, so it was not the end of the world, but…

"Erm, hello?" While I was having my little panic attack I had apparently spaced out long enough for the gathered children to get worried. Hermione was actually waving her hand in front of my face. I gave her a quick nod before standing and offering Draco my hand.

"Apologies, it's been a long day. My name is Alex Potter. Nice to meet you." I'm sure I was breaking a thousand pureblood decorum rules by shaking his hand, but I had to get him out of here so I could think. Besides, I was muggle raised and I think that was a well-known fact, he probably expected me to walk with a limp and make house-elves seem articulate. A little well-meaning faux pas was unlikely to hurt me in the long run. Still, I made sure to mispronounce my name just in case. "Were you wanting to join my friend and me? I'm sure we can make room if you would like?"

"And who's this? I don't recognize her and I know all the purebloods and half-bloods that are going to Hogwarts this year." By the end of his question his mouth had started to twist into a sneer.

"My name is Hermione, and of course you wouldn't recognize me. I just heard about magic this past summer." Hermione's voice had taken on an offended tone. I guess she saw the sneer. Now how do I salvage this?

"Yes, Hermione's the first witch in her family. Isn't that exciting?" I gave Draco my biggest smile, inviting him to join in on my happiness at this joyous prospect. "So did you want to come in?" By implying just how ok I was with Hermione's muggle-born status I hoped to either convince him to leave or, if he stayed, cause him to sit in an awkward silence so that I would have a chance to think.

"No, no, that's ok. I just wanted to introduce myself. Now that I've done that I'll take my leave." He beat a hasty retreat. Ha!

"What was that all about?" Hermione, right. Some people are racist idiots. Now how to explain that to an impressionable eleven year old?

"Umm, going by what I've heard, some of the old pureblood families look down on first-gen witches." There, that works.

"I know, Professor McGonagall mentioned it." Oh well, that's good. "I was asking about you zoning out. Are you feeling alright?"

"Noticed that, did you? It was nothing." A raised eyebrow was her only response. "Fine, have you heard of True Names? When Draco was introducing himself he pronounced his name oddly and that made me wonder why, which made me remember about True Names."

"Professor McGonagall said you should be careful when you introduce yourself and never give out your middle name, because a bad witch or wizard could use it against you. She said that as long as you do that you don't have to worry." Her voice had taken on a very prim and proper accent, making me think she was reciting the whole thing from memory.

"Oh, huh, that's good, worried for nothing I guess." I wasn't convinced, but it's not like there was anything I could do about it now. Still, I resolved to mispronounce my name slightly when introducing myself from now on.

**888**

The rest of the train ride passed in a comfortable silence, with both Hermione and I lost in our respective books. Mine was the first year Charms book and hers was Hogwarts: A History.

It wasn't until we were almost at Hogwarts that we finally changed into our robes. Really, we just pulled them over the clothes we were already wearing before heading outside after the train stopped.

"So where do we go now?" Hermione sounded nervous. "The older students are already leaving. Should we follow them?" I was about to interrupt her when I heard Hagrid over the din of the gathered students.

"First years, first years this way!"

"I'm going to hazard a guess that we go that way." I gave a laugh at her 'no really' look.

"Hagrid, good to see you," I said, and it was. My run-in with the Red vampire was frightening to the extreme, even if it had nothing on Voldemort. It had, in fact, featured in several of my nightmares since then. But still, it was nice to see him. Hagrid was a pleasant sort, his tendency to eviscerate people in front of traumatized eleven year old girls aside.

"Alex! Good to see yeh, good to see yeh. How've ya been?" Hagrid seemed to be in a fine mood tonight.

"Good, and you?" I asked. I held out my fist to Hagrid, he seemed confused for a moment but started grinning as he remembered. We then proceeded to bump fists. One fist hits the top of the other, repeat with the positions reversed, and one last hit on the knuckles before pulling back and shaking your hand while making an exploding sound. We got more than a few odd looks.

"Alright, everyone follow me!" Hagrid started down the road towards the very big lake. As Hermione and I boarded the vessels at the edge of the lake, a dark haired kid approached us and asked if he could share our boat.

"So what's your name?" Hermione asked.

"Neville Longbottom…"

Whatever else Neville said I couldn't hear. Hogwarts had just come into view and my magic sense was practically deafened. It was intense, more so than even Voldemort, a thousand times his power but none of his vileness. I smelled books and ink, I tasted laughter and the relieved-of-stress feeling of a hard job finally completed. I was lost in a slew of sensations, most of which I could not identify. I don't know how long I was out of it, but after what seemed like hours, even if it could have only been a few minutes at most, I felt myself being studied by something. A sense of amusement pushed the rest of the sensations away, before fading away itself.

By the time I came to we were already in the antechamber leading to the Great Hall. I was giggling helplessly and the rest of the first years were sending me weird looks. Hermione at least looked concerned and that, for some reason, set off a whole new round of giggles from me before Professor McGonagall entered.

I attempted to stop laughing, and I mostly succeeded as we entered the Great Hall, though some giggles escaped despite my best efforts as we waited for the hat to stop singing.

"Abbott, Hannah…" Professor McGonagall held out a piece of parchment and stated calling out names. When she finally got to "Perks, Sally-Anne," I narrowed my eyes at the girl with the Sorting Hat on her head. Bitch. I kept glaring at her as she went to the Hufflepuff table. Lazy Bitch.

"Potter, Alexandrea," I shook my head and headed over to the Sorting Hat before taking a deep breath to try and settle my nerves. I sat down on the stool and dropped the Hat onto my head.

"_My now, isn't this interesting? A past life, one in which this reality is but a work of fiction. No, no, there's no need to worry, I'm not biding my time to take over the world. I may be intelligent, but I am not human—ruling the world holds no interest for me... Send you to Slytherin? Why would I do that? Your only ambition is to survive long enough to kill Voldemort before he can kill you. You certainly have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, willing to die for those you call your own, to kill for them. Your irrational hatred of Miss Perks aside, you are willing to come to the aid of those you do not know, the mark of a true Gryffindor. Still, you love reading and learning far too much to be anything other than… _**Ravenclaw**_!"_

"Irrational my ass," I muttered as I took off the Sorting Hat and headed over to the Ravenclaw table. I was surprised to see Hermione there. How out of it was I to have missed her sorting?

**888**

It said something about how buzzed I was that it wasn't until I was halfway through my second glass of pumpkin juice that I realized what I was drinking. Eww.

"Water, please." No sooner had I asked than my goblet was replaced. "Thank you."

I took a moment to look around the Great Hall. It was amazing, high walls with stone carvings of winged animals with fire hanging from their mouths and hundreds of candles floating around in the air before disappearing into the night sky, or rather the enchanted ceiling.

"Beautiful..." my voice was soft.

"Rowena Ravenclaw enchanted it, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History!" Hermione's voice, on the other hand, was very excited.

"Decided you'd look better in blue, I take it," I teased her. My smile widened at her response.

"I will have you know that the Sorting Hat said 'if I didn't go to Ravenclaw then he wasn't doing his job right.'" She finished with an offended huff. I guess she had been really hoping for Gryffindor.

"Funny, he told me he had 'no interest in ruling the world.'" I took far too much pleasure in her baffled look. I couldn't help it, I started giggling. Again. Hermione made a groaning sound.

"Not again. I had to practically drag you out of the boat and poor Neville had to help and he almost dropped you in the lake. He spent the whole way in apologizing and you just kept giggling at him. What. Is. Wrong. With. You?" By the end she was almost growling. She was actually worried about me!

"Sorry, I'm not sure what happened," and wasn't that the truth. "One moment I was fine, the next I felt like I was hit with the world's strongest tickling charm." Which wasn't quite what happened, but until I got to know Hermione better I wasn't taking any chances. There were enough differences with this universe that I was far from comfortable with simply trusting her based solely on my half-remembered memories of what she should be like.

I was saved from further questioning when Dumbledore stood and called for attention.

"I have to say it is truly marvelous to see you all, new students and old, for another year here at Hogwarts. Some start of term announcements; the Forbidden Forest is, as the name implies, forbidden. Of course, there are always some of you who like to challenge that rule." He paused and looked meaningfully over his half-moon spectacles at the Gryffindor table, where someone had started whistling innocently. "Still for those of you still willing to risk the Forest, please note that if you do, you will most likely be eaten by giant man eating spiders. The list of banned items has now reached six-hundred and fifty-four, and Mr. Filch has the complete list posted on his office door should you want more information. One final thing before I let you go; if you do not wish to suffer a most horrible death, please stay out of the third floor corridor."

It was how calmly he said it, I think, that set me off. I started giggling. Again. Thankfully, by then all the students were talking about it and I was safely ignored. By everyone except Hermione, that is. She just shot me an annoyed look before rolling her eyes.

**888**

The Ravenclaw prefects, Gerould Johnson and Sara Hemingway (no relation), lead the first years through Hogwarts to the Ravenclaw tower. It was such a long trek and had so many stairs that I was quite grateful when we finally arrived. At an eagle-shaped doorknocker. That gave us riddles. Which we had to answer correctly if we wanted to get inside.

This filled me with some dread. I was good at logic puzzles, but riddles could be so convoluted as to be undecipherable. I was already picturing many a long hour spent outside the entrance waiting for someone else to come along and let me in.

As I contemplated that horror and planned some countermeasures to fight off the boredom that would ensue during my enforced wait, we entered the common room.

It was big. Not half as big as the Great Hall, but large nonetheless, with a fireplace on one side and a wall of books opposite to it, with various couches and chairs in-between, as well as two staircases going up. All done up in blue and bronze, Ravenclaw's house colors.

"You are all Ravenclaws, so I should only have to say this once." Doesn't Johnson sound friendly? "I expect that you will all keep your grades up to EE or better. If you need help, there are tutoring sessions with the sixth year volunteers on Saturdays."

"What he means to say is, as Ravenclaws we know you are smart. You wouldn't be here if you weren't. If you need help, ask and go to tutoring. If you get lost, ask a portrait for directions. Hogwarts has a tendency to change when you're not looking and they are the only ones who can keep track of where things are. I also recommend that you all do your homework together. If there are no more questions, the girls' rooms are up the left staircase, boys' to the right, two to a room. You can decide who you want to room with. First years' rooms are on the third floor. They will be your rooms for your entire stay here at Hogwarts." With that, Sara wished us good night. Hermione gave me a glance, to which I nodded, and started heading up the left staircase, leaving the others to sort out who to room with among themselves.

The room Hermione and I chose was a little more than twice the size of my room back at Privet Drive. There were two canopy beds with a window between them and desks on either side of the door.

"So which bed do you want?" Hermione asked.

"I'll take the one on the right." As soon as I said that my trunk appeared at the foot of the bed. Hermione made an affirmative sound, sounding more tired than I felt. It had been a very long day. "Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight Alex."

**888**

Stairs were my greatest enemy in my last life and, even though I've used my second chance at life to stay in shape, I still did not like them. Hogwarts was practically made of stairs. Not just normal stairs, but ones that made a habit of only being there for every third student, or stairs that gained an inch in height when you least expected it. Not only that, but entire staircases had a tendency to move, either when you were about to get on them or after you were already on them. It was a miracle anyone made it to class _alive_, let alone on time.

The Ravenclaw first years and I had taken nearly an hour to get to the Great Hall. We got lost three times and had to ask five different portraits for directions, one of them twice—we had somehow gone in a circle—before finally getting to breakfast.

I was just finishing my breakfast when Professor Flitwick, who had introduced himself to the first years last night before the prefects had taken us to the tower, came over. He was surprisingly spry for a three foot half-goblin and he moved with a quick gait that ate up more ground than it looked like it should.

"Miss Potter, how are you this fine morning?" Professor Flitwick asked, perky did not even begin to describe how his voice sounded to me. No one should sound that happy in the morning. I mean, I could be energetic in the morning but my first night in a new place and— "Miss Potter?"

"Ah, sorry, long night, I'm a little tired is all, but good. And you?" I replied. Really need to work on my spacing out thing.

"I'm sorry to hear that. A new place, unfamiliar people, can make for a hard transition. If you want to talk, please know that my door is open." He was sincere as far as I could tell.

"I will keep that in mind, Professor. Are one of those my schedule?" I pointed at the stack of parchment floating behind him.

"What? Oh, oh yes, here you are!" One of the schedules settled in front of me. "But that's not why I'm here. Headmaster Dumbledore would like to speak with you in his office. After I finish handing out the schedules I'll take you up to speak with him."

"Okay Professor." As he walked away I wondered what Dumbledore could want to talk to me about. I hadn't even done anything yet.

"Dumbledore wants to talk to you already. What do you think it's about?" Padma Patil managed to ask me seconds before Hermione, who contented herself with a questioning nod in my direction. Though she did give Padma a look.

"I don't know. I couldn't have done anything yet. I've been around y'all since I got here." It should be noted that while I speak fluent British, when I'm stressed I have a tendency to slip into my Texan roots. I have thankfully been able to blame it on my, totally fabricated, love of country Westerns. Thankfully no one noticed my slip, but I needed to be careful. "I'm sure it's nothing. He probably just wants to see how I'm doing or something." Way to sound confident.

"You have to tell me how it goes. Maybe he knows why you couldn't stop laughing yesterday and wants to talk about it, or maybe he's going to..." Thankfully I was saved from more fun theories from Hermione when Professor Flitwick arrived.

**888**

The walk to Professor Dumbledore's office was long and winding. How do people find their way in this place? Professor Flitwick and I spent most of it talking about Charms. I was particularly interested in the 'Point Me' charm. I thought, as I told professor Flitwick, that if I used it correctly I could use it to help me when I was trying to find something specific in a book. He awarded me three points for 'inventive use of a charm' and then proceeded to show me a spell made specifically for that purpose. Sadly it was beyond my current abilities, but I made sure to memorize it as best I could for future practice. I was going to call it the Google Charm and it was going to be very useful. Once I could actually cast it.

Our conversation lasted until we were standing in front of the gargoyle leading to Dumbledore's office.

"Sherbet lemon. I shall see you in Charms class later today, Miss Potter." With that he waved goodbye and the gargoyle moved aside, revealing a staircase leading up towards Dumbledore's office. I narrowed my eyes.

"Stairs." After a moment of glaring at them I sighed and started heading up, but no sooner had I started than the stairs started moving on their own. "Huh, was not expecting that."

I had reached the top of the stairs and was about to knock when I heard through the door, "Please come in, Miss Potter." The door opened before I could touch it.

As I got my first look at Dumbledore's office I decided that all the fanfics describing him as insane had to be right. There were toys and trinkets lined up on his shelves, most of which were making some form of noise or another. Rows of portraits lined the walls and their occupants were trying their best to appear sleeping. In the middle of it all, behind a magnificent wooden desk, sat Dumbledore in all his twinkling glory.

If my memories could be trusted, and it was looking more and more like I should be taking them with a grain of salt, Dumbledore was a driving force in my life. It was at his behest that my parents went into hiding. It was his decision to send me to the Dursleys, something that would have ended horribly if they were what canon portrayed them as. It was also his wards that failed to protect my parents when Voldemort came for me.

Dumbledore was a Power, one who would be in my life whether or not I wanted him to be. If he was the manipulative schemer or the overtly evil Dark Lord behind the throne, as fanfiction so loved to portray him, I was in for a rough time. If, on the other hand, he was as he appeared to be, a well-meaning mentor, my path could be much smoother. Dumbledore would either be my greatest ally or my greatest enemy after—or perhaps even before—Voldemort. I just had to figure out which.

_Joy_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**This Is Not The Headmaster You're Looking For.**

"Hello, Headmaster Dumbledore," I said. Until I knew which version of Dumbledore I was dealing with it was best to treat him with the utmost politeness.

"Please call me Professor. I consider myself an educator first and administrator second," Dumbledore said in a genial voice.

"Professor it is then," I said. Trying to sound as respectful as possible.

"Relax, you're not in any trouble. You haven't been here long enough to get into any real fun yet," Dumbledore said teasingly. I smiled and found myself relaxing in spite of myself. "I had actually called you in here to talk about your run-in with the Red Court vampire." And just like that I stiffened up again. "It is no small thing to stand up to an evil such as that."

"I don't know what Hagrid told you but I was getting ready to run when he showed up," I said. It wasn't like I would've been able to fight the damn thing. It had thrown me the length of the alley with one hand, and I had used up my only weapon.

"No wand, your only weapon expended, and a fight that could not be won with your current abilities. Running was the correct course of action," Dumbledore said. He paused a moment and seemed to debate something before continuing in a serious voice. "But that is not why I wanted to talk to you today. I wanted to assure you that you will not have any further problems from the Red Court." He sounded very sure of that. "And if you have any problems sleeping because of this or just need some help dealing with it I have informed Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, about your altercation, and she will be ready to help you."

"Thank you for telling me, Professor," I said. I still didn't know what had caused the Red Court to try and kill me, but unless Dumbledore decided to tell me, if he even knew, I was unlikely to find out why. Until such a time that I found out why, I resolved to attribute it to the Red Court's war with the White Council making them uppity.

"Now that that's out of the way, I couldn't help but notice you seemed in an especially good mood last night. From what Professor McGonagall said you had to be helped from the boats and could not stop laughing. Do you have any idea why?" Dumbledore inquired. Well, crap. I knew the first years had noticed my… episode, but I had hoped that it had escaped the notice of the professors. I gave a shy nod. It was pointless to lie—I was horrible at it, and if he was half as good as I thought he was he would be able to see through any attempt to dissemble. Also this was a fairly small thing to reveal. If he reacted badly or in a way I didn't like, then I would have evidence against trusting him with anything further.

"I can sometimes feel things. I could feel something around my house and Diagon Alley, but they had nothing on Hogwarts," I said. When Dumbledore nodded for me to go on, I continued, "It feels like a taste and a pressure at the same time. Usually unless I really focus on it I just get a slight feeling, but when Hogwarts came into view I was completely overwhelmed." My voice was tinged with awe. Even now I was riding a slight buzz from the experience. For Hogwarts to affect me so much when I wasn't even trying to sense its magic meant that this place was brimming with power.

"I too had much the same reaction when I first came to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, reminiscing. I arched my brow as I leaned forward, not having to feign interest. I was always interested in stories, and Dumbledore was sure to have more than a few good ones. "Do you know what you are sensing?"

"I'm almost certain it's magic," I said confidently. If I was wrong I would be very surprised.

"It is indeed. The reason you had such a strong reaction to Hogwarts is because she's built on a nexus of seven ley lines," Dumbledore explained. At my only somewhat fake look of confusion he continued. "Ley lines are like rivers of magic. They flow all over the world, and where they meet some of the most important and powerful places are built. Stonehenge and Hogwarts are simply a pair of the most well-known examples of this. Building on a convergence of ley lines allows you to tap tremendous power but it can be very dangerous. Stonehenge hasn't been used in over a thousand years because no one alive can handle the power involved." Dumbledore said the last bit so softly I don't think he realized I heard him. "At least not since the gods stopped responding."

Gods? I had been doing a lot of reading since my trip to Diagon Alley and I had learned a lot. I had confirmed the existence the Red, White, and Black Courts and the multiple types of werewolves. Not to mention the rival block of magic users that couldn't use wands—couldn't, not didn't; it was an important distinction—the White Council. No mention was made of gods though. I would definitely need to look that up when I got the time.

But for now I decided to ask Dumbledore a question I thought he would answer. "If it's magic I'm sensing, why do I feel it at home? As far as I know I'm the only witch there." I was pretty sure that the wards were set up by either Dumbledore or the ritual mom performed before Voldemort killed her.

It was odd, I remembered that night in almost perfect detail. The feeling of the wards being torn down, my mother's barely controlled movements and shaky voice as she begged for my life, the oppressive feeling of Voldemort's magic as he calmly walked down the hall to my room.

I could not remember any feeling from Mom's ritual. Nothing at all. At the time I was more worried about Voldemort, but looking back it was more than a little disturbing that I couldn't feel anything from it. The ritual did something, as evidenced by my continued existence, and I remembered the runic diagram disappearing, but magic wise I felt nothing.

Dumbledore gave me a considering look before responding. "I am sure that by now you have heard of your status as the Girl Who Lived." At my confirming nod he continued. "The night Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow your mother sacrificed herself for you. This act of pure love allowed you to survive the Killing Curse and left you with a powerful protection from Voldemort in the form of blood wards." I wondered if he actually believed that. He certainly seemed to, but if he did, then he probably knew nothing about Mom's ritual. "I added some of my own wards to the protection on Privet Drive, but the majority of what you've felt comes from that night."

I nodded while absently wiping the tears that had started falling down my face. "Sorry, just, I still remember them sometimes. A smell or a sound and it's almost like they're still here," I said. I grabbed the handkerchief that Dumbledore had conjured and dried my eyes.

"I understand, my dear," Dumbledore said, looking far older than when I first came in here. "Would you like a lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked. I nodded and reached into the bowl on his desk and grabbed one before popping it into my mouth. Mhmmm, lemony.

"Wait, she?" I asked. Was he talking metaphorically or was Hogwarts actually alive. I was curious and I wanted to move past the current topic.

"Noticed that, did you? Ravenclaw certainly suits you," Dumbledore said. He seemed happy for the change of subject. "Yes, I did say she. Hogwarts is, in a very real sense, alive. Being built on a nexus has given birth to a genius loci." Dumbledore paused and cast a spell that cased the time to appear in the air as glowing numbers. "Unfortunately it is time for you to get to class." I ended up leaving with a pocket of lemon drops.

**888**

I made it to Potions with a minute to spare. Luckily Hermione had saved me a spot.

"How did it go?" Hermione asked softly. Professor Snape was not yet here, but the dungeons did not lend themselves to loud voices or boisterous children. The Potions classroom in particular seemed designed to discourage such things.

"I'll tell you after class," I answered just as softly. The surroundings were affecting me too. All the light in the room came from torches, and there were jars filled with various dead and not so dead animals and plants. Ugh.

"Okay," Hermione said. That was all the talking we had time for as Professor Snape swooped through the door, which slammed shut after him, and stalked down the aisle to the front of the class where he pivoted on his heel and spent a long moment just glaring at the class. Until his gaze fell on me. I was leaning forward, a quill in my hand, and doing my best to look eager to learn. He blinked and almost seemed to smile. Ha, I love it when a plan comes together.

"Potions is a subtle and precise discipline. Few of you will see the beauty of the simmering cauldron or the power that potions can wield. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper on death. This is but a fraction of what potions can accomplish—what you can accomplish, if you've the mind for it." Professor Snape's voice was low, but I had no doubt that every student heard him clearly. He once again surveyed the room and, apparently satisfied with what he saw, continued. "This year will be different from my past attempts at teaching Potions. We will meet three times a week and on Mondays we will discuss theory, on Wednesdays we will brew and on Fridays we will, depending on how your latest attempts at brewing went, either start on a new potion or review what went wrong," he finished, looking none too happy at the new way of teaching the class.

I narrowed my eyes, this was a big departure from his sink-or-swim take on teaching from the movies and fanfics. What could have caused this change? I thought for a moment before shrugging. Probably Dumbledore or one of the parents finally got tired of his old method and forced him to change it.

"Now does anyone know why the number of stirs is important?" Professor Snape asked. What followed was a lively discussion on the inherent magic of certain numbers and why it was important to stir seven times, not six or eight. Apparently Arithmancy was more than just arithmetic.

**888**

"I don't know what the older students were talking about. Professor Snape is an amazing teacher. Oh this is so exciting, I can't wait to actually make a potion!" Hermione gushed. Professor Snape was indeed a surprisingly good teacher.

"Me neither. It seems Potions class will be very interesting," I said. We were on our way to Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall when Hermione stopped and turned to look at me, giving me a searching look.

"So you were going to tell me what Dumbledore wanted to talk about?" She asked. You don't beat around the bush do you, Hermione?

"Yes I was," I said as I started walking again. Hermione huffed before following. I stifled a smile—riling people up was _fun_, and Hermione was so vocal in her annoyance.

"So…" Hermione drawled.

"Soooo…" I drawled back. A smile was fighting through my self-control.

"What. Did. He. Want?" Hermione growled at me. The smile was, by this point, stretched across my face.

"Oh, that. Nothing really, he just wanted to talk about my reaction to coming to Hogwarts," I said.

"Your reaction? You mean how you were acting like one of Daddy's patients after they've had some laughing gas? That reaction?" Hermione asked. The brightest witch of the age, ladies and gentlemen.

"Yes, that reaction," I said, grimacing slightly. I was over it, but the experience was intense, and had someone tried to do anything to me I would have been helpless. The fact that anyone who tried something would have had to go through all the teachers didn't help. "He said that it had to do with my ability to sense magic. Since Hogwarts is built on a nexus of ley lines the ambient magic is orders of magnitude denser than in most places."

"That makes sense. Those who sense magic are very sensitive to hot spots like Hogwarts," Hermione said before something seemed to occur to her. "Wait, that means that you can sense magic." She looked at me inquiringly and I nodded. "That's really rare, you know. There are less than a thousand people known to have that ability. Dumbledore's one of them." She sounded more excited about it than I was and I knew how useful it could be.

By now we had entered the Transfiguration classroom. The room was almost full, there were only a few tables open at the front near the desk which had a cat on it. My smile returned. We sat down at the table right in front of the desk.

"We're almost late," Hermione fretted.

"We can't be late, the Professor's not even here," I pointed out, my smile growing. A few minutes passed as we got our things settled.

"Were do you think she is?" Hermione asked. By now most of the students had started talking amongst themselves, and the Hufflepuffs were eyeing the cat. Please let one of them try and pet her, _please_.

"It is the first day of term. Professor McGonagall is probably just giving everyone time to get to class," I said. One of the Hufflepuffs, I'm not sure which one it was, had gotten up and was heading towards the front desk while eyeing the cat. Yes, just a little further. Just _one _stroke of the cat, please. I was staring at the Hufflepuff, my grin stretching from ear to ear. Hermione, who had been focused on getting her supplies set out until now looked at me before turning slightly to look at the Hufflepuff.

"What are you smiling at, Alex?" Hermione asked me suspiciously, her eyes narrowed slightly. Only a day and she knew me so well. I shook my head and motioned for her to be quiet. Just a step away now. Just a little closer.

Sadly it was not to be. As soon as the Hufflepuff was within touching distance professor McGonagall transformed, flowing seamlessly from cat to human, causing the poor kid to squeak and fall backwards.

"Miss Perks, are you alright?" Professor McGonagall asked. At Perks' affirming noise she continued. "Then please return to your seat." McGonagall's voice was stern but tinged with amusement. I narrowed my eyes slightly. _Perks_.

"Now that we are all seated we can begin," Professor McGonagall said, looking around the room. Less intense than Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall had nonetheless won the class's complete attention. Animagi, people with the ability to turn into animals—or rather one animal—were rare. Unlike Metamorphmagi like me, Animagi were taught rather than born. Most people simply lacked the skill and dedication to learn it. If being able to turn into an animal took a lot of work, well then I was more than up for the challenge. "For your first lesson you will attempt to turn a matchstick into a needle. The incantation is _acus_ and the wand movement is a slight downward thrust at the match, like so. Please begin," Professor McGonagall instructed.

I would like to say I managed it on my first try. I would like to say I did it by my twentieth try. Unfortunately it was not until five minutes before class ended that I finally managed to do more than make my matchstick slightly sliver, nearly ten minutes after Hermione managed to fully change hers into a needle, netting Ravenclaw five points. Still, once I did it the first time, I managed to turn it back and forth a few times before class ended.

"For those of you who did not manage to transfigure your match, you will need to turn in three inches on the subject due next lesson," Professor McGonagall said as we put our supplies away. Wait, inches?

Hermione was finished packing up and was standing waiting for me. I motioned for her to wait a moment while the rest of the class filed out. "Professor McGonagall?" I asked. She turned to look at me.

"Yes, Miss Potter?" She asked.

"Umm, I know I managed to transfigure the match, but for future reference, when you say inches you don't mean that like pages thick, right?" I asked nervously. Because seriously, if she did, that was insane. Professor McGonagall arched her brow.

"And if I do?" She seemed amused. Amused was good, that probably meant that she did not in fact mean to inflict carpal tunnel syndrome on poor unsuspecting students.

"If you did, I think my hands may well fall off before Christmas," I said seriously. I did really think my hand would fall off if I had to write that much.

"Well, we can't have that, can we? No, for future reference, when I say inches I mean down the length of the parchment, not inches thick," she said. I nodded, relieved, and turned around to join Hermione for lunch.

**888**

"I can't believe you thought Professor McGonagall meant three inches thick," Hermione teased. I may be a bad influence on her. She had teased me all the way through lunch, though now that we were in Defense Against the Dark Arts she thankfully seemed to be losing steam.

I was not looking forward to this class. Despite all the differences this world had to offer, Quirrell was still the Defense Professor. Which made it an almost certain fact that he was possessed by Voldemort. If this was true I was in for a major headache when my cursed scar reacted to him. It hadn't happened at dinner last night but maybe it was proximity based, or he was just hesitant to try something so close to Dumbledore.

Sitting there in that classroom was nerve wracking. The person who killed my parents was sitting right there and there was nothing I could do about it except play dumb.

"Good afternoon class," Quirrell said smiling, his turban a dark green, matching his robes. "Please turn your books to page 245. We'll be talking about…"

The rest of the lesson continued, but I barely paid attention. I couldn't take my eyes off him, though I did keep my head turned towards my book. Periodically he would look at me, but I was never called on. It was odd—Quirrell seemed normal. He smiled and laughed, he shared stories relating to the lesson, and all around seemed very personable. It was disturbing.

It was not until dinner that night that I figured out what had been bothering me about Quirrell. Throughout the entire lesson he hadn't stuttered once. That did not bode well.

**888**

Do you know what the most disturbing thing about knowing the future is? Finding out that your information is wrong. Not all wrong, no, that would be too easy. At least if all your supposed knowledge was wrong you would be in the same boat as everyone else. My memories were close enough for me to still cling to them but off just enough to make me doubt every decision and assumed fact that I thought I knew.

For example, Charms class with Professor Flitwick was almost exactly as I pictured it. The class started with Professor Flitwick showing us the charm we were expected to learn today and then we spent the rest of the time practicing the spell, with Professor Flitwick walking around giving advice.

It was easily one of my favorite classes. Much more entertaining than History. I swear I saw Binns smile as the students began dropping fast asleep not ten minutes into his lecture. It didn't feel like grunt work like Herbology did, nor as gross as rending ingredients down for Potions class, and it was at a reasonable time unlike Astronomy.

All this fit my expectations of what Hogwarts was going to be like as I planned how to survive Voldemort. What did not fit my expectations was Quirrell acting like a good teacher. He was clear and engaging, and the class would have been both enjoyable and informative if I had been able to focus on it. As it was, each class was a trial. I spent more time trying to decide if Quirrell was indeed possessed by Voldemort than listening to the lessons. It had been nearly three weeks since the start of term and at this point I couldn't tell if he was possessed or if he was just a good teacher. It was freaking me out enough that I had had to go to Madam Pomfrey for a Calming Draught twice to help me sleep.

At any rate it was the day of our first flying lessons, and I was looking forward to it. I had bought a Nimbus 2000, with a shrinking spell already placed on it, on my trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. I bought it as a way to get away from, well, anything I didn't think I could actually beat in a fight. Unfortunately I had no idea how to use it. So for now it sat uselessly in the hart locket I wore every day.

"I still don't see why we need to learn to fly. It's practically useless unless you're going ride professionally," Hermione groused. Hermione was _not_ looking forward to flying lessons. The past few days had seen some version of this complaint repeated more than a few times. When she wasn't complaining about the approaching flying lesson she was obsessively reading _Quidditch Through the Ages _as if she could learn flying from a book.

"It's like P.E. class, pointless but required," I said. Hermione had complained so much the last few days that the other Ravenclaw first years had started avoiding her, and since I spent most of my time with her they were avoiding me as well. It was a little annoying. I had started making friends with them, Padma in particular. Still, I had expected it so I wasn't too mad.

The entire first year class was waiting outside for Madam Hooch to show up. I was somewhat concerned about that. From my memories, and as confirmed by _Hogwarts: A History,_ flying lessons for first years were usually held for no more than two houses at a time. Something had changed this, but what that was I had no idea. Until Quirrell walked onto the field.

"Madam Hooch is unable to teach class today or for the rest of the month, so I and the other Professors will be filling in as our schedule allows," Quirrell announced to the gathered first years. That was more than a little concerning. Magical healing was amazing—broken bones could be healed within a few days and most diseases were fought off by the magic already in our bodies. Anything that could put a witch out of commission for a month without killing her was unlikely to be the product of an accident. "Alright, everyone pick a broom and hold your wand hand out over it, then command it to rise to your hand. Say up!"

I gave Quirrell one last look before moving over to my broom and saying "UP!" It slammed into my hand. I smiled and looked over at Hermione. Her broom was wiggling around on the ground. She was growing frustrated as evidenced by her increasingly frizzy hair and reddening face. "Hermione," she ignored me. "Hermione, Hermione!" I said just under a shouting voice.

"What?!" Hermione said, her voice just as loud.

"When you say up, it's not an invitation or a please—it's a command. You are ordering it to obey you. Like this." I said putting my broom back on the ground. Before commanding "**UP!**" It slammed into my palm again. "Now you try. Remember, command. You are in charge." I put my broom in my other hand. That had actually hurt.

Hermione nodded and turned towards her broom. She took a deep breath and Said "UP," and up it went. She smiled before turning to look at me, her smile dropping.

"Yes, very good work Miss Granger," Quirrell drawled from right behind me. My heart pounded as I spun around, the knife I now kept in my sleeve falling into my hand as I dropped my broom. I twitched my arm just so and my wand came out of my wand holster.

My muscles tensed and readied to move. I waited for a moment just staring at Quirrell. A considering look passed over his face so fast I almost convinced myself I imagined it, before a slightly mocking smile settled on his mouth. "Did I startle you, Miss Potter?" Quirrell said, tilting his head slightly.

I was tense, my breath came in slow gasps and all he did was smile, _bastard_. I relaxed and took a calming breath. It was unlikely he would try something here with this many witnesses, and witnesses was the best these kids could hope to be if he tried. No, let's be honest, if he decided to kill me he would. There would be no try about it. I redoubled my resolve to fix this gap. Tonight. I would start tonight.

With one more deep breath I was finally able to look away from Quirrell. Only to find the entire first year class staring at me. Joy. Quirrell gave me one last look and walked away. I put my knife and wand away before saying, "UP," catching the broom as I got back in line.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked, her face drawn in worry.

"No, but I will be," I said, forcing a smile. By now the rest of the class had started focusing on their brooms again, though I heard whispers of my name passing from their mouths. "Thank you for asking." Hermione did not look convinced but nodded and started focusing on Quirrell.

"All right, students. Now that you have your brooms, please mount them," Quirrell instructed. He walked down the lines giving advice and correcting form as necessary. "Now gently kick off the ground."

Following Quirrell's instructions, the class pushed off and started hovering. Unfortunately Neville didn't stop at hovering. Once Neville was in the air he quickly lost control of his broom and shot up into the sky. Before anyone had time to react the broom seemed to buck him off. He hit the ground arm first and everyone heard a sickening crunch.

After the scare that Quirrell gave me it was a good thing I was flying low, because as I heard Neville hit the ground I fell from my broom as well. The noise had made me nauseous and dizzy. Fortunately for me the ground was soft and my stomach settled quickly.

By the time I looked up, Quirrell had already spelled Neville to float behind him and was walking to the castle. He called out, before entering the castle, for everyone to stay on the ground.

"Look what _poor_ Neville dropped," Draco Malfoy said as he walked over to the Gryffindor area of the courtyard. I sighed, I did not want to deal with this.

"_Accio_ remembrall," Hermione said. I stared at her, when the hell had she learned that? Harry didn't even learn that until fourth year. I knew that she had been pushing herself to keep ahead of me, I was second in the first year grades wise, but to learn that after only being here for a few weeks was more than impressive. "Leave Neville's things alone, Malfoy."

Where was this coming from? I mean yes, Hermione was more confident than her movie counterpart, but this was not what I expected from her at this age. I shook my head. I guess I'd underestimated her.

"What do you think you are doing, mu-muggle-born?" Draco sneered, moderating his language at the last second.

"I was stopping you from bulling poor Neville," Hermione said, her face turning red.

"And what business is it of yours what I do, muggle-born?" Draco said his face inches from Hermione's. I was tempted to let this continue but both of them were headstrong and convinced they were in the right. This needed to stop and sadly there wasn't a teacher in sight, so I needed to stop this before Hermione did something that she would regret. Right now she didn't care about points but when she calmed down she'd be distraught.

"Ok, this is…" I tried to say before Hermione interrupted me.

"It's my business because Neville is a nice person and I won't let you bully him!" Hermione shouted.

"That's enough…" I tried again.

"Oh, fancy him do you?" The gathered students gasped. "I see you want to be the hero and give poor Neville his little ball, so maybe he will take pity on a poor penniless muggle-born and ask you out, is that your plan?" Draco asked his voice mocking. Ok, that is more than enough and I was about to put Draco on his ass when Hermione yelled.

"Take that back!"

"Make me," Draco said.

"Oh I will," Hermione said, reaching for her wand.

"Not here you uncouth barbarian. In a proper duel, tonight, midnight, third floor corridor," Draco said the last bit at a near whisper.

Hermione looked uncertain before responding, "Fine, tonight."

_Motherf—_


	4. Chapter 4

**Charter 4:**

**Midnight Meetings**

I am not as mature as one might expect for a person who remembers their twenty-first birthday and while I am usually a very well behaved child, there are times when I completely loose it. I fall to the ground and bawl or simply refuse to do something, that normally, I wouldn't have any problem doing. Aunt Petunia was often at a loss as to how to deal with me on those days.

I spent the better part of two years, were the most I could do was waddle and talk in baby speak. The first few months of my new life I couldn't even speak, I could only cry. I could barely move my fingers during that time, let alone properly express myself. I mean just think about it a fully developed mind and all I could do was cry and mess my diapers. Unable to do anything, except dread the inevitable death of my parents at Voldemort hands. If it weren't for the calming charms my parents cast, I doubt I would be as sane as I am today.

With everything I've gone through is it any wonder that I'm a little immature at times. Two plus years were I had to rely on others for even the most basic of things. There are times when I barely feel eleven years old. Let alone the thirty I've technically lived.

If it was immature of me to spend the next hour or so after flying class ignoring Hermione than I felt I had good reason. I mean publicly fighting with a Malfoy, accepting a challenge to a midnight duel and dragging me in as her second. What was she thinking? I did not need more enemies, and yes Draco was most likely going to be an enemy in the future. That did not mean I wanted to make him my enemy now, no matter how time saving it might be.

I mean yes it was mean of him to take Neville's things, but maybe he was just going to give it to him later. I paused and rolled my eyes, yeah like that was going to happen. Still, was it my duty to help everyone with a problem, to stop every bully and right every wrong? I certainly didn't think so. Stopping Voldemort was already more responsibility than I wanted, that you very much.

I was in the Ravenclaw common room seated at one of the, sinfully comfortable, couches staring at my potions textbook. Hermione was seated next to me reading, or at least pretending to read, _Advanced Charms: A Beginners Guide._ I guess that's where she learned the summoning charm. Periodically she would look up and stare at me before sighing and going back to her book.

I looked around and, judging everyone sufficiently occupied, got up, motioning for Hermione to follow I headed up to our room.

"I am so sorry Alex, I didn't mean to drag you into this," Hermione said, obviously working herself up to a big apology. I cut her off before she could really get going.

"Whoa hold on, I'm not mad about being your second," I said, and I wasn't annoyed yes, mad no. "I am your friend. I got your back, from here to hell and back." I said seriously. "No, what I am annoyed about is that you got into a fight with Malfoy in the first place."

"Did you see what he was doing?" Hermione asked. Her hands were at her hips, Hermione's classic lecture pose.

"Yes I saw what he was doing. He's a Slytherin," and didn't that sound raciest, classist, House-ist? It was something. "He was trying to show how big and tough he is. It was exactly what I expected of him. What surprised me was you, if that shouting match had gone on any longer I thought for sure you were going to punch him." Which wasn't supposed to happen until third or fourth year. "Why would you go out of your way to antagonize him?" I asked, genuinely curious. My memories, which I was starting to rely on less and less as it became apparent that they were less than accurate, painted Hermione as a rule abiding person.

"Out of my way? He did it right in front of everyone!" Hermione said

"Yes, but how is that our problem? One of the Professors would have made him give it back. You didn't need to get involved." I said. Hermione flinched as if I struck her.

"And what was I supposed to do? Just let him get away with it, the Professors may have forced Malfoy to give it back but that would have stopped it from hurting Neville." She said tears leaking out. She absently wiped her eyes. I gave her a concerned look.

"This isn't just about Neville is it?" I asked. It couldn't be with a reaction this strong something had to have happened to her.

"Yes, no, I don't know." Hermione said, the tears were coming in a torrent now and she just looked at me. I stepped to her and drew her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." I said softly.

"You don't even know what happened." Hermione said, barely able to talk through the tears. I squeezed her before starting to rub her back.

"It obviously hurt you. That's all I need to know." I said. Here I was getting mad at her and ignoring her for over an hour. Some friend I am. Hermione cried for a bit before pulling away slightly. I let go, still keeping one arm around her shoulders.

"Thank you," Hermione said before falling silent log enough that I thought she was done talking. "I, it's not something I like talking about but I was bullied a lot in school. At first it was small things and then I offered to do their homework. To get them to stop." She laughed, a harsh sounding thing that had no place coming from a child. "That was a mistake."

"And the teachers did nothing?" I asked. If they had stood by while my friend was being hurt, I would have to pay them a visit.

"Oh they did something alright. It didn't take the teachers long to find out I was doing the other kids homework for them. We all got in trouble, and when I tried to explain what had happened they said that we would all be punished equally." Hermione explained. I knew that there was only so much a teacher could do in situations like this but I was in no mood to care. "They stopped for a while, but once the teachers stopped paying close attention they started up again. This time I told my parents and Mom got me transferred to a new class." Hermione finished bitterly.

"That sounds like it didn't go as planned." I commented.

"No, no it didn't. Ms. Harrow was just mean and any time one of us did something even a little out of line she would punish everyone. Even if we had nothing to do with it." Hermione grimaced before continuing. "As if that wasn't bad enough Shane, one of the kid in my old class, had a cousin in my new one, Grace. She was a very, very, mean girl and she lived down the road from me. Daddy tried to talk with her parents but they didn't do anything. It got so bad that Mom was saying we should move. That was when I got my Hogwarts letter." By the end her voice had taken on a slightly awed tone. As if she still couldn't quite believe that this was real.

"So I'm thinking I visit you this summer. It'd be fun, we could do each other's hair and gossip and…" I went on for a few moments enjoying Hermione's increasingly incredulous face. It would also give me an opportunity to _talk_ to a certain little girl about manners. Hermione's face went from confused to bemused as she figured out what I wasn't saying before she started shaking her head.

"While I would like you to come over, you won't do anything about Grace." Hermione said, looking very serious. I nodded already trying to decide what I would be doing to Grace when we met. Hermione didn't look convinced, "Promise me you won't do anything that will get you in trouble." I just raised my brow. "I mean it promise me."

"Fine I promise." I said, crossing my fingers.

"Good," Hermione said. We sat there for a few minutes before I got up and grabbed her advanced charms book. Upon which I cast the google charm.

"If we are going to do this we need to be ready. I think the disarming charm and the disillusionment charm are a good place start." I said. Hermione looked at me for a moment before smiling.

"Thank you." She said. I just nodded and handed her the book. Pointing out the spells. "These look useful."

"Well of course they are. It my idea we're talking about." I said in my best hoity-toity voice. Hermione giggled and I started giggling before long we were both on the floor laughing. When we finally got control of ourselves she said

"You know you're showing me how to do that spell right." I just started giggling.

**888**

We spent the rest of the day, skipping dinner, practicing for the duel. Thankfully flying was our only class that day. Our room was trashed by the time we left.

"Ok remember what we planned, disillusionment charm and then a silencing charm on our feet." Hermione said fretting. We were on the fourth floor waiting for midnight to strike and Hermione was really starting to panic.

"Of course I remember, we went over it nearly fifty times now." I said softly. It may be late, but that just meant that we had to be all the quieter. Hermione it seemed didn't quite grasp that. I cast the tempus charm. _11:40 _"Alright it's almost time lets go." I got my broom out nodded at Hermione she nodded back and we got on the broom before casting the charms and hovering down to the third floor.

I maneuvered us into the corridor and settled us near the ceiling. I took a moment to see if anyone was around. Hearing nothing I took a deep breath and tried to _sense_.

Before getting my wand sensing magic was difficult. Notable exceptions aside, I would have to enter a near meditative state to get anything other than a vague background feeling of the ambient magic. Clearing my mind of all distractions, as anyone who has tried to meditate can tell you, is not easy. It like someone telling you not to think about a pink elephant. As soon as someone says that all you can think of is pink elephants. Thankfully I had a lot of time to practice.

That was before I got my wand. Now all it took a deep breath and a bit of focus and I could feel my surroundings, feel the _magic_. First was the slick feeling of the invisibility charm followed by the slightly numbing taste of the silencing charm.

Just behind me, waiting patiently, was Hermione. She smelt of books, like Hogwarts, and feathers. The taste of passion, barely contained, was nearly over powering. Surrounding her though was fire, my skin was hot and sweat started dripping from my brow. Hogwart's magic was of course omnipresent. The ink and books and power, so much power. None of that was what I was trying for, so I put them out of my mind and reached.

Down the hall, not far from where we waited was a feeling of both life and death. Intertwined yet distinct from each other. Guardian and jailer, the Cerberus. The Cerberus had a similar feeling to the Hogwarts ghosts, yet much more dynamic. The ghosts felt chained and stunted as if it was a struggle to simple be. The Cerberus felt at home. Odd.

While my ability to sense magic had increased by leaps and bounds, my ability to interpret individual spells as anything other than there, was something I was just starting to practice with. That said, the Cerberus and the room it resided in were covered in spells. Each spell was intertwined with its neighbor, there wasn't a square inch of that room that didn't have a spell on it. Distantly beyond the room I could just barely sense more spells.

I pulled back, I had the information I wanted. If the philosopher's stone was here, and it seemed as if it was, the obstacles from the movie were just the tip of the iceberg and the Cerberus was not going to be a push over either. Good, wouldn't want this to be easy for Voldemort. I tilted my head hearing voices, Malfoy and a girl.

"He actually showed," I muttered disbelievingly, I had expected him to sic Filch on us. It's why I insisted on the invisibility spell. If Filch did come for us we would just float away and he would never even see us. I set us down a little ways from the stair way. We watched as Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, surprisingly enough, walked up.

"See Pansy, I told you the mudblood would chicken out," Malfoy said triumphantly. Beside me I could fell Hermione bristle at the insult. I put my arm on her, I wanted to hear them talk. Pansy may have been described as pug faced in my last life, and I could see a little of that now, but there was something not right about the smile she wore. She looked at Draco like he was an amusing pet, a far cry from her usual portrayal as a simpering money chaser.

"You did indeed Draco." Pansy said, apparently agreeing with him. Her eyes though were moving, settling on something just long enough to dismiss it as unimportant, before moving on. She closed her eyes for just a moment and when she opened them she was looking straight at Hermione and I. "How long should we wait for them to show?" The smile that had never left her face, grew just a little.

There are two ways to stop a spell, three if you counted waiting for it to run its course. The first was to drain it of energy, this was difficult as it required you to actively drain the magic powering the spell and that could be very dangerous. As spells were sensitive things and draining it to fast or to slow could result in it blowing up in your face.

The second method, and by far the most widely used, was the dispelling charm. Or rather the basic dispelling charm, _finite incantatem_, and its various derivatives. Which destabilized the foundations of a spell. You'd think that this would be more dangerous than draining a spell but, well magic.

Hermione and I used the dispelling charm at the same time. Coming into view at the simultaneously. We had spent an hour earlier getting the timing right.

"Draco! Good to see ya. I see you brought Miss Parkinson, is Goyle feeling under the weather?" I asked brightly. Draco started slightly, but Pansy just kept smiling.

"Did you really think I would just back down, Malfoy?" Hermione asked. Giving Pansy an uneasy look. Good she saw it too.

"I didn't think you had it in you Granger. I'm almost impressed." Draco drawled. "Potter," Draco nodded at me. "Pansy's here because, uh…" He paused a moment looking confused.

"I'm here because I wanted to see Draco in action," Pansy cut in, she attempted a sycophantic voice but couldn't quite manage it. Draco ate it up,

"Yes Pansy wanted to see me teach Granger some respect for her betters." Draco said. Pansy nodded. I narrowed my eyes and shared a glance with Hermione. I nodded at Pansy while maintaining eye contact with Hermione. Watch out for her. Hermione looked confused before nodding.

"Well I think it's time we got started don't you," I said. Draco apparently agreed because he and Hermione got into position, Pansy and I moved to opposite sides of the hall our arms held carefully at our sides. No need to start a fight over a misunderstanding.

"The rules are simple. First one to be disarmed three times losses. If you are incapacitated before the third disarming your second can take your place or your second may forfeit for you." Pansy said, for once not smiling. "Do you understand the rules?" Draco and Hermione nodded. "Begin."

Hermione opened with a disarming charm, casing Draco to step lightly to the side while sending a bright red stunner towards Hermione. Hermione blocked with a hastily cast protego. The stunner slammed into it driving Hermione to her knees the stunner dissipated but the shield fell too. Leaving Hermione open to the stunner coming right behind it. Hermione fell forwards, unconscious.

"Remember Potter you can only revive her or take her place." Pansy said, her smile firmly in place. I grunted an affirmative and moved over to Hermione, dispelling the stunner. Hermione jerked up.

"Are you good?" I asked, giving her a concerned look.

"I'm fine," Hermione answered shortly. Jumping to her feet and motioning me back to the wall. I looked at her for a moment before heading back.

"First point to Draco, are the two of you ready to go again?" Pansy asked and at their nods she said "begin."

Hermione waited for Draco to make the first move this time. Draco must have been waiting for her to start because they stood there for a long moment simply looking at each other. At some unseen signal they both sent out stunners. Hermione dodged to the left, having learned her lesson for their last exchange, and Draco jumped to the right.

After that the fight, duel, really got started. Hermione would send stunners and disarming charms. Which Draco would dodge and he would return fire with stunners of his own. It was surprisingly intense. They weren't moving that fast nor was their spell work that impressive, being first years this wasn't surprising. But they kept moving and sending out spells at every opportunity. Draco obviously had some training but Hermione managed to keep up.

It wasn't until nearly five minutes in that Hermione managed to catch Draco with a well-placed tripping jinx. Casing him to fall forward slamming his nose into the cobblestones. Hermione's stunner reaching him just after he hit the floor. I swear I could hear his nose crack.

Pansy looked at me her smile almost touching her ears, before she schooled her face into a more reasonable look. She nodded at Draco looked at me until I motioned for her to go to him. I turned to see Hermione leaning against the wall gasping for breath. I walked over to join her.

"That was amazing Hermione, I think Draco may have to call this a draw." I said as I moved besides her.

"Thank," She paused to gasp in more air. Her face was slick with sweat. "You."

I turned to look over at Draco, to see if there was going to be another round, and saw Pansy standing over him. He was breathing and his nose looked fine. "Draco can't fight right now but, as his second, I'll be taking his place." Pansy said, looking far too eager for my liking. The broken nose and stunner wouldn't have left him unconscious, did she do something to him?

"I'm sure that's not necessary. They both got a point I think we can call this a draw." I said, really not wanting Hermione to fight her. At this point I didn't want to fight her either.

"No, _gasp_, I want to finish this." Hermione said, still struggling to pull in air. She had used a lot of magic in the last ten minute and, when she went to push off the wall, she got half way through before falling back into it.

"See, she wants to finish this," Pansy said, her smile mocking.

"Hermione you can barely stand, if you try to fight her you will lose." I said trying to reason with her.

Hermione got a stubborn look in her eye and before I could say anything she said "Then you fight her."

"I think that's a grand idea," Pansy said. Was it just me or had her teeth gotten sharper when I wasn't looking.

"I think that's a bad idea, you can barely stand and Draco needs medical…" I said, before Pansy interrupted me.

"If you don't want to duel you just have to surrender." Pansy smile was less sharp and more amused now. Thankfully. Seriously, those teeth were weirding me out. I looked over to Hermione hopefully. Seeing the stubborn set of her brow. I sighed, yeah that's what I thought.

"If you don't finish this I, _gasp_, will," Hermione, said, gasped, whatever.

"You can't even breathe, let alone fight, Hermione," I said. At her glare I relented. "Fine."

"Excellent," Pansy said, and there's the teeth. _Joy_.

I really did not want to fight her, but if didn't Hermione would and she was in no position to duel. So unless I wanted to stun Hermione myself I would have to duel Pansy.

As we got into position I kept my eye on Pansy. She seemed hungry, for lack a better word. Her eyes never left mine, thankfully soul gazes could not be initiated by eye contact between two wanded magic users our magic's too tame, even when Hermione began the match. Was purple a natural eye color?

"You know she said start right? That means the spells can start flying." I said, going for levity as I tried to think of a way to end this quickly.

"Ok," was all Pansy said, before she started walking towards me. I just stared for a moment. This was a magical duel that usually meant magic, not a walk slowly towards me duel. Still if that's how she wants to play this I can oblige her. Keeping a close eye on her, on the lookout for the slightest wand movement, I fired a stunner. It nearly hit her before she swerved out of the way, never missing her stride. I sent a stunner and two disarming charms at her, each of them got close but, without missing a beat, she dodged each one.

I started backing away firing as many spells at her as I could. None of them hit. At this point I was practically running in reverse trying to keep my distance from her. When I tripped on my robes. Somewhere between falling and hitting the floor I lost consciousness.

I woke to find Hermione standing over me. A concerned look plastered on her face.

"Did I win?" I asked.

"Ah, not quite." Hermione said. I sat up and saw standing maybe twenty feet down the hall was Pansy, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. I felt a flash of annoyance, I was well aware I was no match for Voldemort, yet, but to not only lose, but to be so utterly humiliated by a first year, was galling to say the least. Pansy's smirk, if anything got bigger. Oh that's it I am taking you down a peg little missy. "If you want we can just surrender now."

It looked like my performance against Pansy had dulled Hermione's resolve. Too bad, because, though I may not have asked for it, I was the bloody chosen one and I was not going to be humiliated by an arrogant _side character_ with delusions of grandeur. "No way, I'm going to finish this!" I said, no, swore as I stood.

"Still want to fight, do you?" Pansy asked, looking mildly impressed. Though how she managed to look impressed while keeping her smirk firmly in place, I don't know.

"Just get in position." I said, glowering. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew that I should just give up while I still had the chance. I knew the chances of me winning were slim to none. I just didn't care. Pansy laughed. I glared her before motioning to Hermione to start the match.

"Begin," Hermione said.

I threw my arm forward and into a jerky wand movement, chanting _"Magnus glacies."_ _Magnus Glacices_ was a spell I had seen a fifth year casting the week before. It was supposed to make a spire of ice grow under your opponent. When I first started practicing it all I could make was short, foot tall, hunk of ice. Now though I could make a three foot spire. Large enough to injure, if it hit. That was the beauty of the spell though, once cast, it took a split second for the ice to form. Long enough for Pansy to move away, if her previous performance was anything to go by.

Thus allowing the secondary effect of _Magnus Glacices _tocome into play. When cast _Magnus Glacices_ also formed a thin covering of ice for nearly six feet in every direction. When Pansy dodged she would slip on the ice, unstable and unable to properly react I would send a stunner at her to render her unconscious. It was a good plan, a great plan, if I said myself. Backwards, forwards or sideways, if Pansy had dodged in any of these directions I would have had her dead to rights.

Regrettably, Pansy had other ideas. Just as the ice spire was forming she tensed her legs and jumped, launching herself into the air. I stared, uncomprehendingly as she went higher and higher. I noticed her shoes glowing, she had magic boots.

I shook my head and started to bring my wand up, when Pansy waved her wand and I was hit with a tremendous force. Slamming me off my feet and onto the floor.

I laid there dazed, distantly I heard Pansy land. I was about to try and stand when Pansy appeared, placing her legs on either side of me she kneeled down. Her wand, she placed just before my eyes its tip glowing red. "Give up?" Pansy asked, her smile tremendously amused. Looking from the wand to her face for I moment I responded.

"Yes."

"Good," Pansy said. She stayed there a moment just looking at me. Before putting away her wand. Just as she started to stand up, she paused and gave me a serious look, before leaning forward and pressing a quick chaste kiss to my lips. She pulled back, a genuine smile spreading across her face. "See you later ice queen." She said standing, and walking over to Draco and spelling him to float behind her, before walking out of the corridor.

"Oh god, oh god, please no!" I begged, stating to panic.

Hermione seemed to snap out of her stunned state. Before running over and asking, "What's wrong, are you ok? Talk to me."

I was in no position to respond. "Not a yandere, please not a yandere." I muttered over and over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**Required Learning.**

In my last life I would have described myself as a lazy genius. If you were to ask my teachers, they would have said I was half right. That sentiment applied itself well to my primary school years in this life. That wasn't to say I didn't apply myself or that I didn't turn in work on time. It's just, the most advanced thing we covered was long division, something I had been able to do for years. I was surrounded by children for eight hours a day, which could be trying at the best of times. This led me to put forth a token effort in school. Spending more time reading for fun than actually working.

I had gotten used to putting next to no work in and still getting good grades. This was not an option at Hogwarts, as this was entirely new material and I was in Ravenclaw. Good grades were not so much expected, as required. That was without even getting into how obsessed Hermione got about studying. Thankfully we were learning magic, and magic was amazing.

The pureblood students were somewhat jaded with it. But even they still had moments of wonder when wielding magic. Magic was fascinating, say some words and wave your wand and things happened, reality twisted to suit your whims. With magic you could violate the laws of physics, you could impose your will upon the universe and the universe would yield. It was a heady feeling. I could almost understand why purebloods felt superior to muggles.

Still even the most interesting of subjects could be difficult. That was why the Ravenclaw first years met at least once a week in the library to go over class work.

"I still don't get why you don't just use a quill like everyone else, Alex." Anthony Goldstein said. It was not the first time he said it, nor I feared was it the last.

"I use my fountain pen because my hand writing is better with it than with a quill." I answered. How many times must I say that?

"But you'll never get any better with a quill if you don't use it." He pointed out reasonably.

"As I said before I do use quills for notes and such, but for out of class work it's just easier to use my pen." I retorted. Looking around the table for support. Hermione and Padma were too busy working on the potions essay due Monday to pay us any mind, thou Hermione did give me a quick smile when she looked up from her book. Terry Boot and Lisa Stroud were having far too much fun listening to us argue to be any help, and Anthony was giving me a superior look. I just rolled my eyes, before replying, "Shouldn't you be focusing on your transfiguration's essay. If you make another A, Johnson will have your head."

"Perfect Johnson can stuff it," Anthony said, but he did start working on his essay. I laughed a little. Anthony liked to talk big but he always caved before putting words to action. Johnson would have been all over him if he made another acceptable in McGonagall's class and Anthony knew it.

"You should get back to work to, if you want to keep your lead in charms." Padma said, finally looking up from her essay, Hermione, of course, was still buried in her book. "If you keep goofing off Hermione may finally pull ahead." I narrowed my eyes at her. It was true Hermione had top marks in every class. Every class, that is, except charms. It was my favorite class and the one I put the most effort in. It galled Hermione to no end that I kept getting better grades in it. I glanced at Hermione, still lost in her book. I smiled.

"Irregardless of the fact…" I tried to say.

"Irregardless is not a word." Hermione said, practically glaring at me, my smile grew.

"Irr…" I said.

"Not. A. Word." Hermione growled. The others were looking at us. This was not the first time Hermione and I had had this argument, but this was the first time we had it in front of them. I opened my mouth, "NOT. A. WORD." I closed my mouth, but my smile stayed.

"How about a little wager, Her-mi-o-ne," I sang

"Wager?" Hermione asked looking wary.

"If you manage to finish the year with higher marks than me in charms, than I will stop saying Irregardless." I said, enjoying her slight flinch at the word. Hermione narrowed her eyes before nodding.

"Agreed." Hermione said. The other Ravenclaws looked amused.

**888**

_Buzz, Buzz, Buzz. _

I shot up, my heart pounding. I glanced around for a moment before remembering what the buzzing was. I hate alarm spells. It was close to one in the morning and I did _not_ want to be up. Regrettably it was necessary.

Hermione and I spent most, if not all, of our free time together. Don't get me wrong I liked hanging out with her but it made getting away to do certain activities, like finally making time to go to the Room of Requirement, difficult.

I finished getting dressed and retrieved my broom. Hefting my bag filled with the supplies I would need. I cast the disillusionment and silencing charms, I mounted by broom and headed out the door. Floating near the ceiling I made my way to the common room, a lone seventh year sat studying. I paused a moment and, judging him sufficiently engaged in his work, made my way out the room.

Aside from being around Hermione all the time and acclimating to Hogwarts work load, it had taken me this long to get used to navigating Hogwarts corridors. It wasn't finding my way to the room or making it back that worried me. It was doing so without having to ask the portraits and risk them reporting my after hour's whereabouts that had kept me from trying to make it to the seventh floor before now.

Getting to the seventh floor wasn't that difficult, but given Ravenclaws towers location, I had to take a somewhat winding approach to get there. There was a point in my journey that I felt as if I were going down, even though I was heading up the stairs. Hogwarts and normal geometry had an interesting relationship. One in which they completely ignored the other party.

"Do you sell something Miss Norris? Huh, do you girl?" Filch said as he and Ms. Norris, Flich's cat, rounded the corner. Flinch was an old man, early fifty's muggle fifty's at that, he walked with a hunch and dressed in drab brown robes. "Oh, well catch them and string them up. Won't we Ms. Norris? Yes we'll catch those rotten children out of bed and put them…" Breath, focus, _sense_. I reached out, ignoring the familiar feel of Hogwarts, curious to see what a squib would feel like. There, a sense of the wild only slightly tempered by generations of domestication and connected to her was Filch. His magic was slightly stunted, tilted leftward but there.

I pulled back. Interesting. So squibs do have magic, and not just a sensitivity to magic, enough it seems to form bonds with animals. A Familiar bond maybe? I felt a slight pang, in my last life I had had a few pets and loved them dearly. I had been wanting to get a pet since I was old enough to talk in this life. Unfortunately Vernon was adamant on his no pet's policy. I had been looking forward to getting Hedwig from Hagrid but, for whatever reason, he never got her.

I sighed aloud, thankful I had remembered to place the silencing charm on my hood, and looked around to see of any one else was around. Hearing and seeing no one, I continued on. I managed to remain unseen for the rest of my trip. Though I did fly over what looked like Perfect Hemmingway and a Hufflepuff Perfect, whose name I didn't know, engaging in a serious snogging fest. Honestly, I rolled my eyes, take that to the broom closet girls.

It was only 1:20 by the time I made it to Barnabas the Barmy's painting. I made good time. I stood there for a bit trying to remember how to get the room to appear. It took me so long to remember that I was actually getting ready to call the whole night a waste and head back to bed when I finally remembered. Right, walk back and forth three times thinking about what you want it to be.

I want the room with Ravenclaws Diadem. I focused on that thought as I walked in front of the painting until a door appeared.

I opened the door and stepped through into the biggest junk pile known to wizard kind. There were all sorts of things, bowls, socks, what I could have sworn was a Lakers jersey and books, lots of books to name a few. I paused and looked back at the socks, nice thick woolly socks. I grabbed them and slipped them into my pocket. At least my Christmas present for Dumbledore was taken care of.

"_Point me_ Ravenclaw's Diadem." I said. My wand moved around a few times before pointing choosing a direction. I carefully picked my way through the piles of stuff. Over a trunk and under a leaning dresser and through a set of animated manikins, handsey animated manikins. "Ow! Stupid manikins." I grumbled, after managing to get through a group of them. While rubbing my sore butt.

Looking back one of the dam things winked at me. I growled and started to bring my wand around to point at them, when I noticed that my wand was pointing just to my side and I saw the diadem was sitting next to me.

"Success!" I said triumphantly. I reached out to touch it, stopping just before I did so. How much of what I remembered about the diadem was accurate? I thought I knew it was one of Voldemort's horcruxes, but what did that entail here? I knew the diary could take you over if you wrote in it. Diary's, even enchanted ones, don't usually take over your mind. Ravenclaw's Diadem, on the other hand was rumored to increase the intelligence of whoever wore it. To do that it would have to interface with the mind itself.

I reached into my bag and got a pair of tongs and carefully grabbed the diadem. Breath, focus, _sense_. I was immediately overwhelmed by the feeling of Hogwarts magic. It actually bowled me over, so intense was the feeling. I retained enough presences of mind to retract my senses, but I was still out of it for a while.

When I was able to move again I found myself laying on the floor the diadem scant centimeters from my face. That was far too close. I grabbed the tongs and picked up the diadem again. Obviously I wouldn't be able to ensure this was a horcrux in here given how concentrated Hogwarts magic was here.

I started making my way back to the entrance. After exiting the room the door faded. I nodded and moved down the hallway. Once I judged myself far enough away, I got started. Breath, focus, _sense_.

I gaged, dropping the tongs and the diadem with it, before puking up my dinner. Corpses, the diadem smelled of corpses. I took a minute to get myself together before standing and looking at the puddle. Ugh, I mentally moved the vanishing charm up my list of spells I needed to know. Hopefully the house-elves would take care of it before anyone saw it.

I reached into my bag and retrieved a metal box just large enough to fit the diadem in it. It wasn't warded or spelled in any way, but it should suffice as a holding place for the diadem. After stowing the box and its contents, I walked back to Barnabas' painting. Not much I could do with it tonight but if it had a book on occlumency I could certainly use it. I had been unable to find one myself and I was starting to get really worried about someone reading my mind.

I did _not_ want anyone reading my mind. The best possible scenario involving my mind being invaded was Dumbledore taking a look for whatever reason and deciding to confront me about my past life. That was unacceptable, if the talk went bad…

I don't even want to think about how that would go. The thought of me walking into Dumbledore's office as me and then walking out not _me_ was terrifying. I shuddered at the thought. That thought had featured in my nightmares before coming to Hogwarts, now I had it nearly once a week.

Anyway, books on occlumency I focused on that thought as I walked back and forth. Once the door appeared I walked through and came to an abrupt halt. Inside was a library, a huge library. I had been in college in my last life, a university not a community college, so I had been in big libraries and the regular Hogwarts library was big, but this was _huge_. I could see from where I stood at least ten stories worth of books.

In front of me there was a shelf and on its side a sign read O. "Useful, very useful," I muttered. One of the books was pulled out slightly. I walked over and grabbed it _Occlumency: Defending the Mind_. Perfect.

It was not perfect. When I tried to leave with the book it disappeared. When I walked back in the book was right back where I found it. So the books can't leave, that's annoying, instead of perusing it at my leisure I would need to sneak away if I wanted to learn how to protect my mind. Unless…

Unless I brought Hermione here with me, she would have been the main one I'd have to avoid anyway. We were close to each other but not so much with the other students. It wasn't like it wouldn't be very useful for the both of us to learn occlumency. With that in mind I started back.

**888**

The worst part of late night escapades, is having to waking up early anyway.

"If you don't get up soon, you'll miss breakfast," Hermione said, sounding far too well put together for a Sunday morning. I grumbled at her and rolled over, pulling my blankets over my head. "You're already awake, why don't you just get up?" More grumbling on my part. "If you miss breakfast you will be hungry until lunch." I threw my covers off me and sat up.

"Fine, fine, I'm up." I said before getting ready. "There, happy?"

"Yes." Hermione said primly, as we left for breakfast. I spent most of the way down to the great hall mumbling about pushy people. Hermione spent the whole way down ignoring my complaints.

As we sat down to eat I swear I felt someone watching me. I looked around but couldn't see anyone looking at me. Quirrell wasn't even in the room and Snape was talking to McGonagall. With my first two suspects ruled out I looked over to the Slytherin table, still nothing. I shrugged, it was probably just one of the other students.

I looked up as the owls flew in with the morning mail. One of the owls dropped a letter on my plate. I rolled my eyes, Hogwarts owls had horrid aim. I opened the parcel. A letter from Dudley.

Apparently Dudley had dropped the ball on his grades and Aunt Petunia was most upset with him and making him do my chores as punishment. I laughed at his threat.

_This is all your fault Alex. If you hadn't made me get good grades in the first place then I wouldn't have gotten in trouble. I know where you hide your candy and I'm going to eat all of it. _

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked, looking up from her book. Honestly Hermione, eat than read. Most of Ravenclaw brought a book to the table but they usually waited until they had finished eating to read.

"Just a letter from Dudley. He says that it's my fault that he's in trouble for getting bad grades and that he's going to eat all my hidden candy." I said still amused.

"Why would it be your fault his grades are bad? If he can't keep them up himself it's his fault not yours and you shouldn't let him walk all over you." She said, sounding very offended. I looked at her concerned. "What? You know I'm right."

"Hermione, Dudley's not walking all over me. Trust me I made sure he knew he wouldn't get away with being rude to me. He's just annoyed that he's in trouble with Aunt Petunia and griping about it." I assured her. I reaffirmed my desire to pay Grace a visit this summer. She had really done a number on Hermione. "Besides he kind of right." Hermione narrowed her eyes at me.

"And just how is he right?" She asked.

"Dudley's grades were never that good. Honestly the only reason he was passing in the first place is because we attended public school. You have to actively try to fail public school." I said exaggerating slightly, Hermione laughed a little. "But, anyway, his grades were not good. So I started to help him and he stared to get good grades. Without me helping him though…" I said leadingly.

"His grades are not what his parents have come to expect." Hermione finished.

"Still if he thinks I actually left anything for him to take." I said shaking my head. "The poor boys lost his mind." Hermione raised her brow in silent question. "I took most of my candy with me. I knew it would be a temptation for him, so I put it all in my trunk."

"Too much candy is bad for your teeth." Hermione said.

"Is that your way of asking for some?" I teased.

"Maybe one or two." She said looking guilty even as she said it. Dentists, ruining candy for children. Does their depravity know no limits?

"You know there are spells to fix your teeth even if you manage to eat enough candy to overcome your magic?" I asked. It was the same thing every time sweets were brought up. Hermione would start pontificating their faults all the while looking as if she would like nothing more than to try some for herself. At her stubborn look I just sighed and changed the subject. "Didn't you get a letter from your parents last week? Have you written them back yet?"

"No, not yet, there's been too much work to do for me to get back to them." Hermione said, already going back to her book.

"You should write them back now, while you have the chance." I said.

"I will, later." Hermione said, absently. It wasn't like I was surprised that she was putting it off. We did have a lot of class work, but this was family and to see her just blow them off rubbed me the wrong way. I knew that she wasn't doing it on purpose and that she had the best intentions. It's just that I remembered my new parent's death and my old life's family had to think me dead by now. I tried not to dwell on it, but my old family was forever out of my reach and sometimes that fact just hit me.

"Hermione, _Hermione_ look at me please." She looked at me questioningly, a little annoyance in her face. "Family's important, please don't put it off." I asked her, she opened her mouth to respond but something in my voice stopped her.

"Ok, I'll write it now and we can go the owlery after we're done eating." She said pulling out her quill and parchment from her ever present book bag. I smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, and after we do that there's something I want to show you." I said softly, mindful of our surroundings.

"What…" Hermione said.

"Later, trust me." I said. She looked conflicted a moment before nodding.

**888**

"Why are we on the seventh floor?" Hermione asked. It took some convincing to get Hermione to come with me after I refused to tell her where we were going after visiting the owlery, but I managed it.

"You'll see, just give me a minute." I said as we approached the dancing trolls. I took a moment to sense for tagalongs but sensing nothing I started walking in front of the painting, once, twice, and third times the charm. The door appeared and I smiled at Hermione's soft gasp. I grabbed the handle, "You're going to love this," and opened the door waving Hermione in.

"This is amazing." Hermione said as she looked around. I smiled taking another look around the place. I couldn't properly appreciate it last night but the library the room made was beautiful as well as big. Decorated in a tasteful combination of green drapery and wood paneling the library felt calming. Up front was the O section but just beyond that, to the left, was a stair way going up ten floors. "How did you find this place?" Hermione turned to face me. I knew I forgot something. Shit.

"Ah, I was exploring and it popped up?" I tried. Hermione gave me a look. Ok, how do explain this. I can't tell her about my last life, can I? ...No bad idea.

"Well?" Hermione said.

"I remember my parents talking about." Hermione looked like she was about to interrupt so I hurried on. "Hermione, I remember that night," Hermione looked confused, "_that_ night," understanding dawned and a concerned look entered her eyes. I hurried on. "My mom did some kind of ritual just before Voldemort came for me. I don't know what she did, but my memory of my early childhood is much better than it should be." True, but not quite all the truth. Hopefully it would be enough.

"That still doesn't explain how you found this place." Hermione said unconvinced, but willing to hear me out.

"So I remembered my dad saying something about the Room of Requirement being on the seventh floor…" I said.

"Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked, interrupting me.

"Yes, that what it's called." I said.

"Why?" Hermione asked. I looked at her confused. Why what? She sighed. "Why is it called the Room of Requirement?" Oh, that makes sense. I nodded.

"It's called that because it can be anything you require." I answered.

"Anything?" She asked. I nodded. "And you asked for a library to find out what your mom did?"

"Not quite, though that a good idea. A really good idea" It was, why hadn't I thought if it? "I read somewhere about Occlumency, it supposed to improve your memory and help you protect your mind from invaders. I want to learn it but I couldn't find any books about it."

"You said you memory is already better, why do you need to improve it more?" Hermione asked.

"The ritual my mom did, I remember her doing the ritual, but not the ritual itself and occlumency is supposed to protect your mind from foreign influence." I said.

"Foreign influence, like mind reading?" Hermione asked looking concerned. I nodded. Legilimency, as I later found out, was somewhat safe if you used a wand, if you didn't things could, and most likely would, go very bad.

"That and mind control." I said seriously. Hermione look very concerned now.

"And the room has information on occlumency?" Hermione asked. I pointed to the bookshelf behind her. She turned around and seeing the book slightly pulled out, grabbed it. "_Occlumency: Defending the Mind,_" She started looking through it. "It doesn't look that hard to learn." She looked at me a moment before turning back to the book. "Alex?"

"Yes." I said, looking at her.

"A lot of the books I read about that night they said your mom was in the room with you?" It wasn't a question, but she phrased it as one.

"Yes." I answered, swallowing nervously. I could picture that night near perfectly. The long scream that seemed to drag on. The steady thumping as Voldemort ascended the stairs. The glassy look in my mother's eyes as she crumpled lifelessly on the floor. The mocking look in his eyes as he turned and sent that sickly green spell that should have been my end.

I didn't even know I had closed my eyes until I felt Hermione's arms around me.

….

An: Comments welcome!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

**Mind Games**

_Friday, October, 31_

Occlumency, as it turns out, is about meditation. At least the first step to learning occlumency is meditating to find your mindscape. I'm pretty good at meditating, I have to be to use my magic sense, but even now, nearly a month later I haven't felt so much as an echo of my mindscape.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

The first step was finding your mindscape, to do that you were supposed to focus on you. The inner you, the place, as the book put, that is uniquely you. It read like a bad self-help book in places, but it was surprisingly understandable.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

Hermione and I made a point to meditate in the mornings and for an hour before bed. If we could get away we made the trip to The Room. We couldn't make it a lot, just because we had a new side project didn't mean we could blow off school to practice, but when we did we spent time exploring the library The Room made for us.

Breath, focu-

_Buzz, Buzz, Buzz._

I sighed opening my eyes, time for class. I looked over at Hermione. "You ready?"

"…Yes" She answered after a moment. "I swear I almost had it this time." She looked mildly annoyed. I smirked slightly, she was very upset at our lack of progress. I was too, but Hermione took it as a personal insult.

"All things come with time." I answered in my best wise sage voice. Hermione huffed a laugh.

**888**

Class that day passed slowly as I was uncomfortably aware that today was the anniversary of my parent's death. More unfortunately than that though was Hermione's treatment of me. Ever since she found out that I remembered my parents death she had been treating me with kid gloves. It was sweet at first but now it was just annoying. Thankfully I had talked to her the week before and she had gone back to normal, but apparently today's significance was not lost on her.

"Are you ok Alex? Do you want me to carry your bag?" She kept asking me if I was alright. It was starting to grate. It was a good thing that we were in our last class of the day, because I was close to snapping at her. Not so good, was the fact that our last class was Defense.

Aside from the incident in flying class Quirrell had been a consummate professional. No sneaking up on me, no evaluating glances and no pain in my scar. That more than anything worried me. I was beginning to think that he wasn't actually possessed by Voldemort.

"Alright class," Quirrell said as we finished finding our seats, "today we will be covering The White Council. Can anyone tell me about them?" A few people raised their hands, Hermione among them. "Miss Granger."

"The White Council is the largest organization of human magical's that do not wield wands." Hermione said, reciting the textbook answer from memory.

"Correct Miss Granger, but not entirely right. Does anyone know what Miss Granger got wrong?" Quirrell asked, giving Hermione a consolatory look. No one raised their hands. "No one? How about you Miss Potter?" He looked at me curiously, I repressed a shudder. As innocent as he looked I could never shake the feeling that he was going to jump over the desk and rip my throat out.

"Its-It's not that the White Council wizards don't use wands, they can't use wands. No wand will bond with them, but no one know why." I answered, keeping my eyes away from Quirrell's face.

"That's exactly it Miss Potter, though you do have one thing wrong. It is known why the wand-less are such," Quirrell said. I looked up interested, I had read a lot about the White Council in, but nothing I had come across had mentioned why they couldn't use wands. Just that they couldn't. "This is usually something left to your history class, but since it has nothing to do with goblin rebellions I doubt Binns will cove it." He smiled invitingly and the class laughed, everyone but me. I repressed another shudder. Creepy. "The wand-less are such because long ago our ancestors were gifted with the secrets of wand creation by the gods, Yes Miss Granger?"

"When you say gods, you're just talking about powerful witches and wizards. Like Merlin, right?" Hermione asked, the rest of the class just looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"No Miss Granger when I say gods. I mean gods, not powerful wizards or witches. Though I can see how you would be confused. We swear by Merlin and other great examples of wizarding because most, if not all, of the gods stopped responding to us millennia ago…"

"If they haven't responded in thousands of years, how do you know they were gods?" Hermione asked.

"There are devices known as Pensieves, that allow use to experience the memories of others, and if properly stored memories can far outlast the one who produced them. I had the privilege of viewing the memory of a priest of Cichol." Quirrell paused a moment something like awe entering his voice. "Miss Granger when you stand in front of a god, there is no doubt. There is no uncertainty, there is only reverence or death. Should you ever have the privilege to be in the presence of one, you will know." I raised my hand. "Yes Miss Potter?"

"You said most gods, does that mean some still respond?" I asked. It was certainly important to know whether or not gods were still talking to people. I was interested for a different reason entirely. Could a god have brought me here? "And if they don't respond are they still alive?"

Quirrell looked at me a moment, it was the first time I had spoken in his class of my own initiative, before responding. "The prevailing theory is that there was a war. One in which the white god," Hermione's hand went up, "when I say the white god I am referring to the Judo-Christian god," Quirrell's voice was sneering as he talked about the white god, "came out ahead. Most gods stopped responding nearly two and a half thousand years ago. Not long before Christianity began its upward climb as the dominate religion on the planet. Some still answer prayer or grant boons if the correct rituals are followed but none still walk this earth in anything resembling their former glory and we are much lesser for it." Quirrell almost looked sad before continuing. "But we started this lecture to talk about the White Council. Can anyone tell me the laws of the White Council?" Padma raised her hand, Quirrell pointed at her.

"The first law of the White Council is: Do not kill with magic." Padma answered. "The second law is: do not transform others and the third law do not read the minds of other and, um that's all I can remember." Padma looked embarrassed to admit that. Quirrell smiled at her consolingly.

"Does anyone else know the rest?" Quirrell asked, Hermione hand shot up. "Miss Granger."

"Fourth Law: Do not control the minds of others, Fifth Law: Don't practice necromancy. Sixth Law: Do not travel against time and the Seventh Law: Do not research the Outer Gates or those it bars." Hermione made a confused face. "Professor why would the White Council forbid people from even learning about the Outer Gates? Surly just knowing about them can't be that bad."

"The White Council is not the Ministry, there ways are not our own but in this matter The White Council has the right of it. When it comes to magic there are indeed somethings that are dangerous to know. Not simply because knowing them is dangerous but because the knowledge itself is hazardous to your health. The Outer Gates is that kind of knowledge." Quirrell answered, looking very serious. "The Seventh Law is something both the White Council and the international Confederation of Wizards agree about completely. If _anyone_ is found researching the Outer Gates they will be punished harshly. The White Council wardens will kill you if they are the one who find you and if the Ministry charges you, you get a one way ticket to Azkaban for life." The class was taken aback by this.

Quirrell smiled softly before continuing. "It's a serious subject but not really something you all have to worry about. I started this lecture to tell you this, the White Council is dangerous but not something you will usually have to worry about. If you do ever encounter one of its members and you feel threatened, call the Knight Bus." My eye started twitching, summon the Knight Bus. Like it was that easy. "The Knight Bus will only respond to a wanded witch or wizard and only a wanded witch or wizard can enter it." _Only_ a wanded witch or wizard. The twitching got worse "The bus is warded to prevent anyone without a wand from seeing it let alone getting inside it. The only exception is if someone without a wand is helped aboard by someone with a wand" Quirrell looked at the clock and nodded. "That's all the time we have for today. Remember despite lacking wands, no member of the White Council is to be underestimated."

**888**

Hermione was lost in a contemplative silence as we made our way to the Great Hall for dinner. Thankfully Defense had stopped her from fussing over me, but as we sat down to eat Hermione still hadn't spoken and I was getting worried.

"Hermione are you ok?" I asked, slouching in my seat to avoid a low flying pumpkin. Pumpkins, first they try and make me drink them, now the dam things try to brain me.

"I don't know," Hermione answered, looking slightly confused. Well that's not a good sign.

"What's wrong?" I asked, now truly getting worried. This was very unlike Hermione, was the lecture bothering her that much?

"Gods." Hermione said, looking slightly nonplused. "They can't be real can they?" I looked around for a moment, no one seemed to be paying us any attention, so I cast a quick silencing charm. Abruptly all sound outside our little section of the bench stopped. Hermione gave me a weird look. "Why'd you do that?"

"This doesn't sound like something you would want others to overhear. Religion is a touchy subject at the best of times. I don't want anyone getting insulted by an offhand remark." I said. Hermione looked offended.

"I wouldn't say anything insulting." Hermione said, sounding insulted at the idea. Is that irony or something else?

"Not on purpose no, but it sounds like your questioning the existence of their gods. I think that would be slightly insulting don't you?" I asked. Insulting? Hell, some people would kill if given that kind of slight.

"It's not insulting to want proof of the existence of supposed gods." Hermione said, indignant.

"How would you feel if someone said that about the white god?" I asked. You can't exactly talk in caps, so calling God, the white god was a good way to differentiate him from the others.

"I would tell them that if they had proof I would love to hear them, otherwise I couldn't help them." Hermione said.

"So, I'm guessing you weren't raised Christian?" I asked.

"No, my grandparents on both sides were really religious so Mama and Daddy made sure to raise me A-religious. That way I could chose for myself whether or not I believed in God, or gods or anything." Hermione answered, looking flustered. "Though my parents are Christian, even if they are not actively practicing, so I would be a _little_ insulted if someone asked that." It looked a little painful for her to admit that. She gave me a considering look. "So were you raised Christian?"

I blinked, yes and no. In my last life yes, in this one no. "Ah, I don't know what, if any, religion my parents practiced and my uncle said it wouldn't be right to force me to attend their church services out of respect to my parents' wishes." It was true to a certain extent that is what Vernon told anyone who asked why I didn't attend Sunday's service. That may in fact have something to do with his decision, but I thought it had more to do with him not wanting me to embarrass him. "What exactly my parents whishes were though I have no idea." I smiled, amused. "So no, I'm not Christian, before now I would have considered myself agnostic."

"That's just it, you are accepting the existence of gods just because Professor Quirrell said so. You said you were agnostic, so why do you believe now?" Hermione asked, clearly frustrated. That was a difficult question to answer, because the reason I took Quirrell's explanation at face value was because I knew he was right, or at least partially right.

This was a universe in which the Dresden Files were real. Which meant the Knights of the Cross were real, which in turn meant that God was almost certainly real. Wasn't there more than one god that got screen time in the books? I tried to remember, Hades and someone else. I furred my brows, for some reason I kept thinking about Santa Claus. I sighed and shook my head, it wasn't important.

I couldn't say I believe because of knowledge I got from my last life. So how to answer? "It's not so much that I believe as it is that I don't not believe? If that makes any sense?" I finally answered.

"No, there was no sense in that sentence at all" Hermione said looking slightly amused. I laughed.

"Look if it bothers you that much we can go to The Room and research it tomorrow." At Hermione's hopeful look I amended my last statement. "Or we can go tonight." With that I cancelled the silencing charm.

**888**

_Pansy Parkinson, Great Hall, Same time_

"Have you seen my new Abraxan feather? Much better than a simple quill, don't you think?" Draco asked as he showed off his newest bauble to the gathered Slytherin first years and a few second years. I rolled my eyes. As useful as Draco may be in the future, and he would be useful House Malfoy was the richest family in the British Isles, for now he was the single most annoying part of my life in Hogwarts. I could feel the arrogance and self-entitlement wafting of him. Thankfully muted by the emotions of the other students.

The slightly amused-condescending-annoyance of Walter Obrien in particular, was a balm to my senses. Obrien was a third year and as such would not usually bother with bragging first years. Sadly the Obrien family had fallen on hard times a few generations back and the key to their comeback was a precarious deal Obrien's father had negotiated with Draco's grandfather. As Lucius was soon to fully inherit Headship all outstanding deals were up for renegotiation, at his discretion. Most agreements would continue with little, if any, review but the Obrien family had remained neutral in the last war. So Walter had to play suck up to Draco or risk his family's good fortune.

I sighed, coming to Hogwarts was supposed to be a break from scheming and pureblood nonsense but, of course, that _hat_ had to put me in the House that runs on scheming and all that truly matters is how pure your blood is. I felt my ever present smile grow a little as I contemplated just how my house mates would react to my distinctly impure blood.

"Pansy dear, are you felling alright you've been quiet this evening?" Daphne Greengrass asked me, actually managing to appear concerned. Her anticipation, though, was obvious to my senses. She was no doubt looking for something to improve her own standing in the Slytherin hierarchy. As the heir to House Greengrass one of the richest pureblood families, her family's fortune far exceeding my own family's modest holdings, she should have been Draco's only competition for influence. Should have been, except for two things, one she was the biggest air head I had ever met secondly, and most importantly, was me.

With my empathetic sense is was, quite literally, child's play to see through and manipulate my fellows power plays to my benefit. "Quite fine Daphne dear, just thinking about our Potions essay." I said, sweetly. If truth be told I had finished it a few days ago. I was just using it as my excuse because it was Daphne's worst subject, and by her slight wince and annoyed-offended feeling Daphne caught my meaning.

"If you're so concerned about your work why weren't you sorted into Ravenclaw?" Daphne said, huffily. I just smiled, she and anyone listening knew I had already won.

Still, Ravenclaw would have certainly been my preferred choice of houses. Less scheming, more reading and most importantly it would have put me close to Potter. I looked over to the Ravenclaw table, Potter and Granger were huddled together talking about something as always.

Everyone had of course heard about Alexandria Potter, the Girl who lived. I hadn't really expected much of her, orphaned at age two and raised by muggles I had honestly thought she would be the stereo typical Gryffindor, but that's not what I got. Potter first came to my attention during the first flying lesson of the year.

It had started out normally enough basic instructions, that only the muggle born had any real trouble following. Amusing in and of itself but nothing to pay any attention to. Until, as Potter was helping Granger with the broom, Professor Quirrell stalked up behind Potter. I could recognize a hunter from a mile away and that's what Professor Quirrell was doing that day, hunting, and on that day Potter was his prey.

Professor Quirrell emotions are weird, I can feel them but they're muted and have a slight echo to them. His emotions that day were no different, anticipation mixed with evaluation.

Potter's emotions though rang out loud and clear, when Quirrell revealed himself from just behind her. Fear, as I would have expected, came first pure in its potency. As strong as that fear was, I expected her to drop to the ground and start shaking. Like father did a times, but instead she whirled around and jumped back slightly. Putting her just in front of Granger, Daphne and the other first years laughed a Potters perceived weakness. I though saw it for what it was she, scared out of her mind, had put herself in front of her friend.

It wasn't just Potter sacrificing herself for Granger either, I saw the knife and wand and had Professor Quirrell made another move just then she would have used them. The fear, I had expected, but the intense hatred I hadn't. Even once it became clear that the Professor wasn't going to do anything, she seemed almost ready to run him through.

Interesting, it was obvious she had some training and she put defending her friend over getting away from the threat. How could I help but include myself when Draco convinced Granger to duel after hours, and Granger dragged poor Potter along for the ride. The sheer frustration Potter felt was enough to make me giggle even now.

Then, later that night, when Potter saw Draco and I come up the stairs almost all of her attention was on me. Most students outside of Slytherin overlooked me in favor of Draco or Daphne but Potter was focused on me. Which is a little odd now that I think of it. It wasn't like I had done anything at that point. My smile dimmed a little, could she know? I shook my head, her reaction was that of weariness not fear. She couldn't know.

After Draco and Granger's duel, and my own stunner to insure Draco stayed down, it was finally time for Potter and me to fight. I really shouldn't have enjoyed her increasing frustration as I calmly dodged her spells while walking ever closer, but I did. Still it was necessary I had to test her, if she was going to be strong enough to help me when _that_ time came. If I could get her help in the first place. Perhaps kissing her wasn't the best course of action but I couldn't help it.

That ice spell _Magnus Glacies_, almost had me. I was actually forced to reveal more of my capability's than I had planned. That feeling of short lived triumph Potter felt before my banishing charm hit only added to my own feelings which is probably why I kissed her. Speaking of, I looked over to the Ravenclaw table.

Feeling the emotions of specific individuals in such a crowded place was difficult but Potter's emptions had a bit more depth than the average student. Making it slightly easier to pick her out a crowed.

As I had been siting there thinking Potter and Granger had stood. I followed them with my eyes as they started making their way out of the Great Hall and I caught a fleeting sense of eagerness from them. Felling like that it's doubtful that they're just going to bed, and they had been disappearing of by themselves a lot lately. I stood and made my way out of the Great Hall, time to see what they've been up to.

**888**

_Alex_

"Thanks for coming with me tonight." Hermione said as we made our way to the Room of Requirement. We had been walking for a bit in an amiable silence and I was about to respond when I felt water hit me, slowly at first but rapidly gaining strength as the seconds passed until it was coming down in sheets. I looked up, expecting to see a leak in the ceiling, what I got was a flickering picture. Fluctuating rapidly between stormy sky and stonework. What the hell?

I took a deep breath. "Hermione where are we?" I asked pitching my voice to be heard over the rain, while trying to figure out what was going on. An illusion?

"We are on our way to the Room, Alex. Why are you shouting? Do you want someone to hear us?" Hermione answered, looking annoyed. Clearly she was still under the effects of whatever this is. Were we even at Hogwarts? I looked at Hermione, was she really Hermione or just a part of this spell? One way to find out, I stopped and closed my eyes.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

Books and fire, _Hermione. _Thank god. I focused on us trying to sense what was affecting us. Mountain and trees, close but not what I was looking for. I felt deeper. _There_. Cotton and cough syrup? I twitched my arm and my wand slipped into my hand. "_Finite incantatem_," I intoned, before frowning. The spell was still active, a little rattled but still in working order.

"Alex what's going on? Why are we wet?" Hermione asked, sounding worried. I opened my eyes, the surroundings were still flickering.

"One second Hermione," I said, focusing on my magic. Mabey if I put more into the spell? I nodded to myself, let's try that. I was about to try again when I was hit in the side before slamming into Hermione. The hit sent us sliding and knocked the air out of me.

It took me a moment to regain my feet and see what had hit me. "Pansy? What was that for?" I asked, incredulous, what was she doing here?

She gave me irate look. "I was saving you from the troll, but if I had known you had wanted to be squished I would have let you be." Pansy said, sounding annoyed and slightly panicked. I was about to respond when her words registered. Troll? I looked around not seeing anything.

"I don't see any…" I said, before Pansy grabbed me and Hermione, who was just getting to her feet, and dragged us backwards. How was she doing that, Hermione and I weren't big but Pansy was smaller than either of us. So how was she pulling us around like it was nothing?

"What's going on?!" Hermione screeched. I winced, I had shaken the spell but we were caught in it. Did she even see Pansy?

I took a deep breath and pored my magic into the spell "_Finite incantatem," _the spell finally broke and I could see the truth. We were in a small clearing surrounded by woods on all sides. It was dark the only illumination coming from a pit of fire of the left, casting everything in an eerie red-orange light.

The troll took up most of the clearing. Almost twice as big as Hagrid, made almost entirely of muscle and covered in jagged black stone that grew out of its skin the troll was an intimidating sight, but what held my immediate attention was the spiked club the troll was swinging at us. I screamed, "Scatter!" and threw myself backwards.

I watched as the club made it way down, aimed straight at Hermione's frozen form. _No_. I threw my arm forward into a summing charm already knowing it was too late.

"Come on Granger," Pansy said as tackling Hermione out of the way. They made it with an inch to spare. The club slamming into the ground right behind them. They landed and Pansy pulled Hermione to her feet, but Hermione was still frozen in fear. So Pansy started dragging her in my direction.

I felt a booming sound vibrate through the air, and looked back to the troll. It had dragged the club back to its side and it seemed to be shaking no, laughing. The troll was laughing at us. "**Ha ha, Grunge smell Christian witches. Grunge kill Christian witches, eat good**."Grunge said smiling, showing off a mouth full of ragged teeth.

"Were are we?" I asked, keeping a wary eye on the troll. He was smacking his lips, imagining how good we would taste but otherwise seemed content to stay where he was for the moment.

"About half a mile from Hogwarts, if we run we may be able to make to the ward line before the troll has us for dinner." Pansy said as she drew near, her usual smile missing. Hermione was still shaking, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

"Hermione, Hermione," I said trying to snap her out of it, nothing. "Sorry," I muttered before slapping her. Her return slap nearly bowled me over. "Ow," I grabbed my face. "Hermione what the hell?"

"Sorry," Hermione said, still looking out of it but at least she was responding.

"**Tenderized witches**." Grunge said, sounding positively ecstatic.

"As nice as this is we need to run now," Pansy said, staring at the troll before grabbing Hermione's hand and running towards the woods and hopefully Hogwarts. I followed, behind me I could hear the troll start laughing again as it started following us.

We ran through the woods, dodging branches and jumping over roots. We were able to keep ahead of the troll only because her had to smash hi way through the trees, not an easy thing to do given their size, but he managed and every with every crash he got closer.

"Run faster!" I yelled looking back. Not thirty feet back, and closing, was the troll. Of course looking back was a mistake, no sooner had I yelled than I hit a branch stopping me in my tracks. I fell to the ground unable to breathe.

I lay in the ground gasping for air, my lungs burning and my stomach aching. Move, I have to move. Move dammit, if I stay here I'm dead and there won't be any third tries. With one last gasp I grabbed the tree and pulled myself up.

"**Witch make Grunge work for dinner, Grunge no care. Hope makes witch taste better**." Grunge said. I gasped turning around, he was right behind me. I tensed ready to run but he grabbed me, squeezing my already bruised ribs. I vomited over his hand, ugh.

"Gunge need mint." I said, trying for levity. Is this how I die? Facing down a troll, in the middle of the woods? At least Hermione's safe.

"**Grunge no cook you, why grunge need mint?**" Grunge asked, honestly looking confused. "**Is you taste better with mint? Mabey Grunge cook you.**" I look at him disbelievingly, this was my end, this imbecile? No, I refused to just lay down and die. What are my options? My arms were free and I had my wand but trolls were notoriously resistant to magic. So a spell was unlikely to hurt the brute. My friends were already gone so I had to figure out something myself. Looking up I saw a branch, a huge branch. Big enough to maybe knock the troll out.

Raising my arm, wand in hand I spoke, "_Diffindo_." I hit the branch but the spell didn't go all the way through. _Dam_. The troll shook me, I barely managed to keep hold of my wand.

"**Witch miss Grunge, witch can't aim.**" Grunge said, laughing again. His laughter shook me, and more importantly it shook the branch. When he stopped laughing I could hear the tortured shriek of the wood. Grunge look up, the branch stayed stubbornly in place. Just a little more. He looked back at me, "**See, bad aim**" he smiled. It was a horrendous thing his teeth were crooked and sharp, some of them cutting into his gums and making them bleed and giving his breath a metallic smell, _revolting_. I started gagging.

"_Accio_ branch!" Pansy shouted, from somewhere under me. The branch tore away from the tree and shot down and slammed into the trolls head with a sickening crunch, before rolling off him and falling the rest of the way to the floor.

"**Ugh,**" Grunge said, as he fell backwards hitting the tree behind him and sliding the rest of the way down. When the branch hit him, his grip on me slackened and I slipped through his fingers and landed in Pansy's arms.

"You ok?" Pansy asked, looking concerned. I groaned in response, my ribs were killing me. "That good, huh?" I groaned again. Her smile returned, subdued but there. "Don't worry Hermione's still running towards Hogwarts, I just came back to get you…"

"**Ugh, Grunge head hurt.**" Grunge said. My eyes widened, he's still awake?

"Right, time to go." Pansy said, looking at the troll before turning around and running, with me still in her arms. Behind us I could hear the troll getting up.

"**Grunge kill you Christian witches, kill you dead**!" Grunge screamed. Pansy and I looked at each other, and she sped up. As fast as she was running we left him behind in short order, I could still hear him crashing around though.

We managed to catch up to Hermione before too long, still running through the woods. As dark as it was, I'm surprised she hadn't tripped over something. "Your, _gasp_, safe," Hermione said as we came alongside her, her breath coming in short gasps.

"Yeah, thanks to Pansy," I said, reassuringly as I looked at her. I noticed out the corner of my eye Pansy smile drop before she looked behind her. "He still coming?" She nodded. I looked ahead we were near the edge of the forest a few more seconds and we were out of the forest and next to the Black lake.

"**DIE**." Grunge roared. Pansy tripped Hermione, causing her to fall, and threw us down, twisting so she landed back first. Just in time for Grunge's club to go flying over us into the lake. Grunge ran out of the forest, his steps tearing up the ground as he went.

Pansy pushed me off her and stood up incanting "_Protego_," a shield formed around her. Grunge crashed through it fist first, the spell must of taken some of the force out of his charge, because Pansy was only thrown a dozen feet. Landing on the shore of the lake, where she stayed unmoving.

Grunge tried to stop his charge, but with the rain making everything slick, he barreled head first into the lake. "Hermione, are you ok?" I asked as I started limping towards Pansy, my ribs still hurting.

"I'm ok." Hermione said, as she stood before walking towards Pansy, who was still not moving. I heard splashing from the lake, looking over I saw Grunge struggling with what looked like the Giant Squid. As I watched Grunge managed to start dragging himself towards shore, towards Pansy. I started moving faster, getting to Pansy a bit before Hermione, I watched Grunge drag himself closer. It was a slow process, the Giant Squid had a good grip on him but he was making progress.

"_Depulso_" I said, trying to throw him back into the lake. I heard Hermione add her own banishing charms to mine. We sent them, one after the other, but he just kept coming. This wasn't working.

"**Urr, Grunge going to kill you, going to kill you slow.**" Grunge said, ripping off one of the squids tentacles, but he was looking at us. I scrambled for an answer, if we didn't stop him he would kill us. We were just outside of the ward line, so no help was likely to come from Hogwarts.

I looked at the rain, at the lake and the squid. I didn't need to stop him, just slow him enough to get to the ward line with Pansy and Hermione. I closed my eye and focused on my magic, on my desire to stop Grunge from hurting my friends and channeled all my power into my next spell, "_**Magnus Glacies!**_" I screamed, my breath misting in the suddenly much colder air.

When I used _Magnus Glacies_ in my duel with Pansy I made an ice spire maybe three feet high. The spell I cast now was much more powerful. I aimed for just under Grunges head, and as he had been clawing his way out, his head was just above the water.

When _Magnus Glacies_ hit it froze the water below him, the ice spire rapidly grew out of the water and hit Grunge in his chin, before seeming to crawl up his face. The spire once fully formed encompassed his entire head and the lake had frozen from just above his waist all the way to the shore where we stood.

That was all that I had the time to see, before I passed out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

**Dream Team**

_Dream_

_To say that I was awesome was an incredible understatement. I was the heir to all the founders, Merlin and every great magical family that you cared to name. I was the eighth member of the Senior Council. Attaining membership after permanently sealing the Outer Gates, thereby gaining Mab as a member of my harem. All before my 21st birthday._

_"You joined my harem," Mab said, looking annoyed. She got like this at time of the year, the handover of power and influence from Winter to Summer was always a trying time for her. Still she had never been more beautiful, pale skin, long white hair and green cat shaped eyes and exceptionally sharp teeth. She was the second best looking person in the room after me, of course. Mab rolled her eyes. _

_Where was I? Oh yes, I am amazing, I graduated Hogwarts at age twelve and defeated Voldemort, for the last time, a year later. I was declared Empress of Wizarding Britain and took Dumbledore as my court jester. Speaking of, I look out over my Hall of Greatness, I repurposed Hogwarts into my seat of power, and saw Dumbledore enter._

_"My lady," Dumbledore said in his traditional jester wear, really just his regular robes, "Grand Adviser Granger is here, should I introduce her with an original dance number of my own devising." He looked so eager, I couldn't say no._

_"That won't be necessary Jester Dumbledore, I simply need to speak with the, _sigh_, Empress of Awesome," Hermione said, looking pained as she entered the throne room._

_"Do you need something, Grand Advisor? You look as if you need rest." I asked, whenever Hermione came by it was usually very important. That last time she looked like this the White Court had declared war. Poor dears didn't know what they were in for, I looked at my favorite chandelier, especially dear Lara. I blew her a kiss, taking pleasure in her blush._

_Hermione cleared her throat, I looked back towards her. "Now that you mention it I do need something." Hermione said, giving Lara an annoyed look._

_"Whatever you need dear, whatever you need." I answered magnanimously, truly I was so giving. Hermione walked closer, almost to my throne before speaking._

_"I need," she paused, and I leaned forward and motioning for her to continue. "I need you to** WAKE UP!**"_

**888**

I opened my eyes, stretching slightly and yawning before situating myself in the bed. The dream, I thought letting my mind wander, I'd had it again. I always felt well rested after having it. It certainly made a nice change from my nightmares, I sighed. If only I could remember it, because aside from feeling well rested I always woke up feeling embarrassed and slightly ashamed. It's how I knew I had it, even though I could never remember it.

Still, not the worst way to wake up. Finally awake enough, I started looking around the hospital wing. Now what was I doing here, usually I just came by to get a calming or dreamless sleep potion. I had never actually stayed the night. Maybe I came by late and Madam Pomfrey had me stay? I frowned, I hope Hermione wasn't too worried.

"So the ice queens awake at last." My head snapped to the left. "Whoa calm down it's just me." Pansy said, I calmed for a moment before freaking out as I finally remembered why I was in the hospital wing. The troll, Grunge, the lake my ribs, I took a moment to feel them, completely healed, _Pansy_.

I looked at Pansy remembering the hit she took and asked, "How are you alive?" she looked amused at my question. "Wait, no I mean where's Hermione and how are you alive?" Pansy nodded to my other side. Turing I saw Hermione sound asleep. I felt a weight lift from me as I saw her looking alive and well. That troll nearly killed us all. Pansy, perhaps sensing my mood attempted to add some levity.

"Really, after everything, that's what you ask me?" She asked, shaking her head. I gave her a look and nodded. "Fine. Witches and wizards are remarkably resistant to sudden impacts, our magic protects us."

"Really?" I asked confused, "aren't wizards the squishy ones, when compared to other magical species?" Trolls and Vampires, came to mind. They were significantly stronger, faster and all-around tougher than humans.

"Squishy?" Pansy laughed. "Yes, I suppose most other magical species are much stronger than wizards, but I would say that we have the advantage if you're talking about getting thrown through a wall, or getting hit by a rampaging troll," She paused, grimacing, "though that would have likely been more than enough to cause, _significant_, if not outright fatal, injuries. Were it not for my House Robes."

"House robes? What makes Slytherin robes different from Ravenclaw?" I asked, aside from some sizing charms the robes I wore were bereft of spells.

Pansy looked far to amused at my confusion. "Not Slytherin House robes, my family House Robes, the Parkinson House Robes." At my intrigued look Pansy continued. "Each House, each family with more than three generations of magic in their veins has a set of house robes, well they're called House Robes, and most families use robes, but they can be anything from a set of jewelry or robes and scarves." She shook her head. "They can be anything wearable. Usually the House Robes are split between the head of the House and the heir. My House uses actual robes, a set of inner and outer robes specifically, as heir I use the inner robe."

"Fascinating," I said, and it was very interesting. "Wait, so your house robes, helped shield you from the troll?" If so I really needed to see if the Potters had House Robes. They would come in handy in the future.

"The Parkinson heir robes, are, among other things, good at increasing the physical capabilities of their users." Pansy answered. I nodded, wait physical increases like…

"That's how you jumped so high! Cheater!" I said, more impressed than annoyed. If I could jump like that I would abuse the hell out of it. My smile grew, yes I would most certainly have to look into my family's robes. I briefly entertained the thought of jumping around like Spiderman on crack, shooting spells at everyone in sight.

"Slytherin," Pansy answered smiling. I was about to say something none to faltering about Slytherin, teasingly of course, when Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office.

"How are you feeling dear?" Pomfrey asked, before casting some kind of diagnostic spell. She made a satisfied sound as she looked over the results. "Your magic's back to normal levels, a little low but that's to be expected after you blew through your reserves." She gave me admonishing look. "Don't make a habit of it." I nodded meekly, whenever I came by for my potions Madam Pomfrey was always very nice. Now though she seemed almost willing to put me in traction if I tried something like this again.

Which I thought was very unfair, it's not like it was my idea to go gallivanting in the woods and get attacked by a troll. I frowned, wasn't there a troll in the first movie. Yes, Quirrell let it in so he could try to get the stone. Unless the staff was looking for us, unlikely students went outside all the time and no one took notice and when we met the troll we were pretty deep in the forest. Deep enough that any help was likely to come far too late. No, sending us out to get eaten by a troll could have only been for one purpose. To kill us, to kill me.

Still just killing me didn't make any sense. If Quirrell was the one who spelled us, then how did this help him get to the stone? If it wasn't Quirrell, and at this point I couldn't say it was definitely him because no matter how much I tried to sense him I couldn't feel anything amiss. Quirrell's magic felt spicy and arrogant, nothing like the pulsing maelstrom of power and rotting corpses that was Voldemort.

"Are you alright dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking concerned. I looked at her and Pansy, who if anything looked even more concerned, and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." I said, attempting a reassuring smile, and judging by their reactions failing miserably. I made a mental note to work on my acting ability at some point.

"Alright," Madam Pomfrey said, looking very skeptical. "I just need to check on Miss Granger and then I'll get the Headmaster. He has some questions for all of you." Pansy and I nodded at her. With that she moved over to Hermione and cast her spells. I frowned, I didn't think Hermione had gotten hurt.

"Is Hermione going to be ok?" I asked.

"Oh yes, she's fine." Madam Pomfrey said.

"So why is she here, if she's fine?" I asked. Madam Pomfrey looked at me, smiling reassuringly.

"After she got the both of you," she nodded to Pansy and I, "the poor dear needed a calming drought to get to sleep, and she wouldn't leave either of you. Even after I assure her that you would be fine." Madam Pomfrey finished with Hermione and went to her office to floo call Professor Dumbledore.

Her leaving seemed to be the signal for Hermione to wake up. Hermione yawned hugely as she sat up, stretching as she went. "Hey Hermione," I said, smiling as her head shot around to look at me. I lost my smile as she jumped off her bed and onto mine. Her arms going around me in a decent imitation of the troll's grip. "_Can't, breathe_." She let go immediately, siting back in the bed and just looked at me for a moment. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling? You're the one who passed out!" Hermione said, huffing slightly.

"I'm also not the one who got hit by a troll." I said, nodding at Pansy. Who gave me an annoyed look as Hermione jumped her. Pansy awkwardly returned Hermione's hug.

"Thank you, thank you…" Hermione babbled. I'd only meant to distract Hermione from worrying about me, not make her start crying. I stood and made my way over to them, grabbing my wand from the bed side table.

"Hug time!" I said happily, before jumping on the both of them, ignoring Pansy threating look. We laid there for a moment before Pansy managed to push us off, giving me annoyed look. I just grinned.

Pansy just shook her head before addressing Hermione. "You're welcome Granger."

"Hermione," Hermione said. Pansy gave her a confused look.

"Yes that's your name." Pansy said, talking slowly as if towards a particularly slow child. Hermione huffed.

"No, I mean you saved my life, our lives," Hermione gestured to the both of us. "I won't have you calling me by my last name." Hermione said firmly.

Pansy looked slightly nonplussed before recovering, a teasing smile gracing her face as she responded. "Ok," Hermione nodded pleased, "Granger." We both laughed at the face Hermione made.

"There's two of you." Hermione said dejectedly. I laughed, pulling Hermione close for another hug. I turned towards Pansy and asked.

"So how did you find us last night?" I was fingering my wand, waiting for her answer. I was almost positive Quirrell was behind the troll but if I was wrong, well Pansy did get there just in time to save us. It paid to be cautious.

Pansy gave my wand a short look. "I followed you." She responded smoothly. I blinked, that was easy. Perhaps too easy. "You're not as subtle you think. It's been around Slytherin that the two of you are always disappearing off by your selves and I wanted to see what you were doing." She shrugged. "It seemed more interesting than listing to Draco preen over his latest gift." I laughed in spite of myself that sounded exactly like him.

"Wait, everyone in Slytherin knows we've been going off by ourselves?" Hermione asked looking worried.

"You're the girl-who-lived, and the best friend of the-girl-who-lived everyone watches what you do and who you do it with." Pansy paused seemingly looking for the right words. "It, would be best for you to assume you're being watched by someone wherever you are." She shrugged, "Most people thought you were just off studying." Stereotypes can be useful I suppose.

"But you didn't." I said, it wasn't a question.

"No," Pansy responded.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked. I resisted the urge to face palm, if she didn't know before she sure knew now.

Pansy smile was pure Slytherin. "I didn't."

Hermione was confused. "Then how…"

"I didn't know," Pansy paused for effect, "_Until_ you just confirmed it." Is it wrong that I took pleasure in Hermione's indignant look? Pansy took mercy on her though and explained. "Even for Ravenclaws you both seemed too excited to just be studying." She looked between Hermione and I. "So, what were you going to do in the forest before the troll interrupted?"

I looked at her, really looked at her. What did she want? She wasn't just asking about what we were doing, she was asking for trust. The question was, should I give it to her?

By saving us she had certainly earned some. If Pansy had not interfered both Hermione and I would be dead. That was if she hadn't put us in danger in the first place. So how do I find out if she had saved us out of the goodness of her heart or if she put us in danger in the first place? I thought for a moment, the only thing that came to mind was a life debt. The only problem with that was, how do I tell if I owe her one?

Life debts were tricky things, they only manifested when someone saves the life of another without expectation of reward. Nor would they manifest if you saved someone you had put in danger. That would make it seem the perfect way to judge her intention, but a life debt may not manifest for something as little as expecting the act of saving to make them your friend. I sighed, only one way to know for certain.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

There, a small bond between Hermione and I, and one between Pansy and Hermione, but none between Pansy and I. Pansy saved both of our lives so why did only Hermione owe her, and why did Hermione owe me? The only time thing I did that Hermione didn't was…_freezing_ the troll! By stopping the troll I must have cancelled my debt to Pansy and gotten one from Hermione. Reaching out with my magic I attempted to pull on the bond between Hermione and Pansy, nothing. Turning my attention to Hermione and I's bond I gave it a, for lack of a better word, tug. At Hermione's gasp I stopped and opened my eyes. To see Hermione staring at me and Pansy giving Hermione an odd look. Oops.

"Alex, what was that?" Hermione asked looking disturbed. I cringed slightly.

"Probably she was feeling our life debts." Pansy answered Hermione, before looking at me. "That is what you were doing right?" How did she know? Apparently sensing my confusion she explained. "You looked like you were focusing on something and I know I can fell Hermione's debt to Me."

"You can sense magic too?" Hermione said, her voice an octave higher than normal. I cringed, really Hermione, really? Just give everything away why don't you. "Wait, life debts? Why would I…oh."

Pansy gave her a look, "Sense magic? No, but feeling a life debt anyone who has one owed to them or who owes one can feel them. Just take a breath and feel for a connection." Hermione nodded and did as she was bid.

A breath, two in and out and then, "I feel them!" Hermione said, sounding far too excited to owe two life debts.

Pansy gave me a slight smile, "So you can sense magic." It too, was not a question.

I sighed, no point in denying it. "Yes, I can."

"What do I feel like?" Pansy asked, sounding genuinely curious.

I closed my eyes. Breath, focus, _sense_.

"You feel sharp, divided maybe? And you smell snakes and the taste like fruit, mango maybe?" I said, opining my eyes. She looked relieved for a moment before she schooled her features. Curiouser and curiouser, I sighed, just when she starts making sense too. Time to change the subject. "Soooo, what are we going to tell Dumbledore?"

"Hopefully the truth Miss Potter." Dumbledore said, from right behind me. I shrieked, tried to spin around and ended up falling off the bed I would have slammed into the floor if Dumbledore hadn't caught me with a spell. He floated me back towards my bed and set me gently down on it. "Are you alright Miss Potter? Perhaps you'd like a lemon drop to settle your nerves?" His voice was completely calm and respectable but his eyes _twinkled_, crazy old codger.

I narrowed my eyes at him, when had he gotten here? "I would love a lemon drop actually." I said, ignoring Hermione's slightly scandalized look. What? Don't judge me those lemon drops are really good. Oddly Dumbledore looked surprised at my acceptance. Before his eyes started twinkling twice as hard. A wave of his wand and a comfortable looking chair appeared. After taking a seat he reached in to his robes and pulled out a bag, leaning towards me he held it out.

"Go on, take some." Dumbledore said, I reached in and grabbed a handful. He chuckled, before motioning to Pansy and Hermione. They both shook their heads, slightly dumfounded at being offered candy by _the_ Dumbledore. With that he put away the candy and asked. "So what where the three of you doing in the Forbidden Forrest?" His voice was just as calm as before but something was different. This was the voice of someone who was going to get his way and the universe was going to fall in line, whether or not it wanted to. Judging by the suddenly straight spines we all sported the others heard it too.

"That's the thing Professor we weren't," I answered. At Dumbledore's raised brow I continued. "That is, we didn't want to be." I stopped unsure how to continue.

"We were going to study after dinner, we were headed up to our room when, the next thing I know we're running from the troll." Hermione said.

Dumbledore nodded, before asking, "And what were you doing out there Miss Parkinson?" Pansy opened her mouth to answer when I interrupted.

"She was going to study with us, we were going to grab our things and meet her at the library. She must have seen us heading towards the forest and followed." I guess I decided to trust her, I hope I'm making the right decision.

Dumbledore gave me a studying look before responding. "Is that so?" Pansy hesitated a moment before responding.

"Yes Professor, I was going to study with them. I saw them leave the Great Hall and got up to follow them. By the time I made it out of the hall I saw them turning to go outside." She paused looking abashed. "I thought that they were ditching me," Hermione had looked confused for a moment but when Dumbledore looked her she nodded along to Pansy's story. I stifled a grin, that's the stuff Hermione. "So I followed them, at first I stayed back, so they wouldn't see me. But they were oblivious to _everything_."

"What do you mean, my dear?" Dumbledore asked.

"I mean I saw a unicorn run by and they just kept talking about Professor Quirrell's class, like they didn't even see it." Pansy answered. "After that I tried to get their attention, but they didn't see me." She sounded disturbed. "We eventually got to a clearing and that's when I saw a sleeping troll." Pansy swallowed. "I knew I had to snap them out of it, so I tried the dispelling charm. I had tried it before but, either I wasn't doing it right or if I just wasn't strong enough but, it didn't work. So I tried it again and it seemed to work, Potter started to look around and…"

"So that's why I could suddenly feel the rain." I interjected. "Thank you." Pansy nodded, even as Hermione started hugging her.

Dumbledore nodded before speaking. "So at that point you realized that something was going on?"

"Yes," I nodded, pausing a moment to gather my thoughts. "We were walking and, we thought, on our way to the library. When all of a sudden I could feel water pouring on me. Something felt wrong, but I couldn't tell what and so I cast the dispelling charm on me and Hermione. After that it was like we were in Hogwarts but we were also outside. The spell felt weaker so I was about to try and dispel it again when Pansy tackled us."

"The troll had woken up and was about to smash them with its club." Pansy said. "I couldn't just let it kill them, so I got them out of the way." If I had doubted her before, I believed her now. Her voice, her eyes, her expression, she believed what she was saying. If she was faking it, I couldn't tell.

"Thank you," Hermione mumbled into Pansy's shoulder as she hugged her.

"After that I was finally able to break the spell and then we ran." I swallowed thickly, remembering Grunge's grip on me. "We managed to make it to the lake when he caught up to us. Pansy tried to shield us but he ran through her and straight into the lake."

"And then you froze him." Dumbledore said, nodding towards me. "And then Miss Granger got the both of you inside." He paused, stroking his beard. "When I examined the three of you last night there was no trace of foreign magic to be found."

"What does that mean Professor?" Hermione asked.

"It means that someone has tried to harm my students and I will not stand for it." He said. I could feel a stirring of power before he reigned it in. So that's the only man Voldemort ever feared. Dumbledore shook his head. "But what matters now is that you all finish getting better." With that he stood up and the chair disappearing as he made his way out of the Hospital wing.

**888**

I thought that I had simply trapped the troll. That after we, Pansy Hermione and I, had made it to safety Grunge would have just broke himself out and made his way back to the forest. Or that one of the professors would have sent him on his way.

That's not what happened. Turns out that while trolls are extremely magic resistant, they are not cold resistant. Or at least not suddenly well below zero resistant. Instead of just freezing the water I actually froze everything above his waist, everything from his skin to his marrow.

I know I froze him to his marrow because an enthusiastic Snape, a horrifying thing to behold, awarded me five points for getting him troll marrow. Apparently it's a rare and useful potions ingredient. He had the fourth years down at the lake rendering the troll, I received more than a few unhappy looks about that from the poor dears.

I honestly didn't know how to feel about killing Grunge. On the one hand he was trying to kill us. On the other he was an intelligent being, he talked he reasoned if at a greatly reduced level when compared to a regular human. So I should feel guilty right? The problem was I didn't and no one else thought I should. Honestly I felt worse about forgetting about my broom, something that would have made things much easier, than I did about killing Grunge.

The Gryffindor's had actually started cheering when I walked into the Great Hall the day after the incident. As far as the rest of the student body was concerned I had simply killed a savage beast, not a thinking being, and emotionally at least I felt the same way. That was the problem.

If I had been raised in the wizarding world I wouldn't feel bad, but in my last life I was raised to believe all life was sacred. That killing was wrong in all but the most trying of circumstances. Fair is fair, Grunge trying to kill us is one such circumstance, but I…

For two bloody weeks these thoughts and others like them wound their way through my head and I was no closer to figuring out what I should feel on the matter.

"Are you still thinking about the troll?" Pansy asked, concerned. She always seemed to be able to tell when I was feeling off, Hermione could as well but not as accurately nor was she here at the moment.

After the troll incident Pansy had joined our little group. Studious, sarcastic, and not a little opinionated, she fit right in.

"Yes," I admitted reluctantly. If Hermione was here I probably would have denied it, not that it would have done any good. Pansy put down her quill and folded her arms.

"Why?" She asked, voice serious. "You know he would have killed us if he had a chance, trolls never give up on prey once they've started hunting them, especially when they're after Christians you know this. And it's not like the other students have started decrying you in the hall ways." Not yet at least, if I remembered correctly that wouldn't start until next year. "So what bothering you about it?"

I took a moment to focus my thoughts, before responding. "It bothers me that it doesn't bother me."

Pansy blinked. "What?"

I sighed, "I'm bothered that killing the troll doesn't bother me." She opened her mouth, but I kept going. "Killing him doesn't bother me, in fact if I had to I would do it again. But I was raised to think killing was bad. That I should fell guilt if I killed someone, even if it was necessary."

"And you think the troll qualifies as a person?" She asked curiously.

I looked at her oddly, "Yes, he walked he talked, of course he was a person."

Pansy looked oddly relived, but I was too focused on myself to really notice. "So you think you should feel something and you don't so that's what's got you all turned up?" I nodded. "Do you think that because you don't feel something that it means there's something wrong with you?"

"No, I don't know, maybe?" I said.

Pansy pursed her lips, thinking on what to say. "Killing is natural, it something we do. We do it so we can eat, and we do it to those who threaten us, and those we care about, so that we can be safe. That you don't feel bad about it just means you're a hunter Alex. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

I blinked, unsure how to feel about that. One the one hand it made sense one the other it sounded like something a psychopath might say. Still it was nice of her to try and that did make me feel better. "Thanks," I said.

She smiled, "No problem, happy to help." She paused looking behind me. "Granger are you trying to throw out your back?" Hermione set her stack of books down at our table. The stack was at least six feet high and had to weigh fifty pounds easy. I looked from Hermione to the books and resolved to drink more milk. Obviously I wasn't getting enough calcium.

Hermione rolled her eyes more than used to Pansy's penchant for sarcasm. "Yes I am, it's been getting uppity and I'm trying to teach it a lesson." Hermione said. I blinked, fighting fire with fire are we? "Now what are we talking about?"

"Not much," I said, not wanting to get into it again.

Hermione nodded, "I've been thinking."

"Your always thinking, Granger." Pansy said, rolling her eyes

Hermione huffed, "How many times must I tell you? Call me Hermione." I smothered a laugh. Pansy, as was her want, refused to call Hermione by her first name. I would have thought it simple blood prejudice, except that she wouldn't call me Alex either, recent conversation notwithstanding, it was always Ice Queen or Potter. I didn't mind but it drove Hermione up the wall. Which was, I think, the main reason she did it.

Sure enough, her eyes held an unholy gleam as she answered. "At least once more," She paused for effect, "Granger." A snort escaped my mouth despite my best efforts. I stared determinedly at my book, ignoring Hermione's glare and Pansy's amused stare.

"Anyway, I've been thinking, maybe it's time to take Pansy to the Room." Hermione said, looking at me meaningfully. Pansy gave us both inquisitive looks.

"What room?" She asked. Hermione and I had managed to go to the Room a few times since Pansy joined our group, but it was only for a short while each time and the both of us were still on the first step of Occlumency. Some quality time in the Room, without having to dodge Pansy, would certainly be helpful.

I nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

"_What_ room?" Pansy asked again, looking annoyed when no one answered.

Hermione smiled before answering. "Good." Pansy opened her mouth to ask again, before Hermione continued. "We can go after we finish here, but first Charms." Was still ahead of Hermione there and she was determined to win our bet. We both ignored Pansy's plaintive '_What_ Merlin forsaken room', and got to work.

**888**

It took some doing but we were able to get to the seventh floor without telling Pansy where we were going.

"I swear if you brought me all the way up here to see a picture of dancing trolls I will cures you." Pansy promised, I would have laughed but I rather think she meant it. Still I couldn't help but snark.

"What? You can't tell me that that doesn't look just like Grunge."

"_Potter_." Pansy growled.

Hermione was ignoring us. It was her turn to call the room. "There," Hermione said as the door appeared. "Not just trolls."

"What is it?" Pansy asked, looking mildly appeased.

I nodded for her to open the door. "You open it."

She gave me a suspicious look but moved to open it. I shared a grin with Hermione, this should be fun. We followed Pansy inside, Making sure to close the door behind us.

"It's a library." She said distinctly unimpressed as she looked around.

I frowned, well that was underwhelming.

"That's it? Just a library." Hermione said offended.

"It's a big library?" Pansy responded.

"It's the Room of Requirement," I interrupted before an argument could start. At Pansy's confused look Hermione explained.

"The Room of Requirement, is well we aren't sure exactly what it is except a master work of enchantment, but it is whatever we need it to be."

"Anything?" Pansy asked intrigued.

I nodded, "As far as I know, yes anything." Pansy nodded looking around the room with a new appreciation.

"So with a room that can be anything you ask for a library?" Pansy sounded incredulous. Hermione and I gave each other a glance.

"Yes." Hermione said. Pansy started laughing. "And just what is so funny?"

Pansy managed to get control of herself. "Sorry it's just, a room that can be anything and you ask for a library. That's the most Ravenclaw thing I've ever heard of." She lost it again. Hermione looked like she was trying to take offence but I saw her fighting a smile.

After Pansy calmed down Hermione started explaining. "I know you wanted to know what we were going to do the night you saved us from the troll, well here it is."

I spoke up. "Specifically we were coming here to learn about Occlumency."

Pansy responded. "Occlumency, really?"

"Yes." I said.

"It's quite fascinating really, or well what we can read about it is fascinating." Hermione said.

"What you can read about it?" Pansy asked.

"The book won't let us read ahead until we manage step one." Hermione was very offended about that.

"Some books are like that, especially if what they hold can be dangerous to the reader." Pansy explained.

"That makes sense." I said. "I had wondered if that was the book or the room but that makes sense too."

"It could be a safety feature of the room." Pansy said. "But, well, that would depend on how intelligent the room is."

"If I had to guess I'd say it's as intelligent as Hogwarts." I theorized.

"Why do you say that?" Hermione asked.

"Hogwarts is a genius loci, and this room is far too advanced to not be getting an insane amount of magic from the ley lines. Ergo it has to be a part of what makes Hogwarts alive." I reasoned.

Pansy nodded. "That makes sense." She paused "So what's step one?"

"Step one is find your mindscape." Hermione said. "You're supposed to meditate on your desires, hopes, wants, dreams and the like."

"Basically you have to know yourself to find yourself." I said.

"Interesting," Pansy smiled, "Let's get started."

With that we walked Pansy through the first step of learning Occlumency, before settling in for our evening meditation.

…

AN: Plot Ho!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

**Darkest Desire **

"This isn't working!" I growled, frustrated, two months, two freaking months and nothing. Not even a whiff of our mindscapes, I was seriously considering giving the whole thing up as a lark.

Pansy sighed, opening her eyes. "No it's not."

"I don't understand, we're following the instructions, it clearly says that we should have made some progress by now." Hermione said.

I reached over and grabbed the book and flipped through it finding the page I wanted. "It says we must know our selves before we can find our mind scape." I looked up at them before continuing. "I don't know about you but I think I know myself pretty well."

"Obviously not." Pansy snarked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Unless you've managed to find your mind scape in the last ten minutes you're not doing better than anyone else." She grabbed the book from me and flipped through it. "I don't know what else we can do, yes the book says it should take time but at this rate we won't find our mind scapes until we graduate."

"Occlumency is a difficult practice, most people rely on their natural barriers for a reason." Pansy said. It was true most wizards simply relied on their natural mental barriers for protection. The problem with natural barriers is they took the better part of a century before they became truly reliable, for obvious reasons I did not have time to wait for them to become useful.

Another reason to learn Occlumency was that it provided several benefits that natural barriers did not. Such as increased memory retention, acute sensitivity to mental probes and, if you're unfortunate enough to have had your mind tampered with, the ability to repair your memory and that was just what chapter one had to say on the benefits of occlumency. I said as much to Hermione and Pansy.

"I agree the potential benefits are very interesting, that is why we're trying to learn it." Pansy said. "But unless you know of a way to suddenly know yourself we are out of luck."

"Well there are several potions we could use." Hermione said, we looked at her intrigued. "But they all either cause insanity cost a ludicrous amount of money or are so hard to brew that it would actually take years to make. Or all three."

"How much exactly?" I asked. My trust vault was stuffed to the brim with gold, and if I was willing to bet the Potter vault was similarly well stocked. An expensive potion wasn't out of the question.

"10,000 Galleons per dose." Hermione said.

"Out of the question!" I said. That would drain most of my trust volt.

"Yes, I rather thought you would say that." Hermione drawled. I shot Pansy a look, Hermione had never drawled before. This was entirely Pansy's fault. Pansy just smirked.

"So potions are out. What about spells?" Pansy asked.

"I haven't been able to find any that would help us, but I did find reference to a ritual that would send you on a spirit journey and it seemed like that would be useful. But when I tried to look up more information on it, I well, couldn't find anything." Hermione said sheepishly.

"So unless you have anything that would help us find our greatest desire, we seem to be out of luck." Pansy said, looking at me. Desire? I couldn't be that easy, could it? The mirror should be in Hogwarts shouldn't it? "I was joking, but it looks like you may have something."

I shook myself from my thoughts. "I might. Have any of you heard of the Mirror of Erised?"

Hermione shook her head but Pansy nodded before speaking. "Yes, it shows your hearts greatest desire. But it went missing centuries ago."

"Think about where we are for a moment." I said. "Even if it's lost well I'm sure the room can make a decent stand in don't you?"

Pansy shook her head. "Even if it hadn't been lost, it's an artefact from the Faerie Courts and those have a way of killing their users or worse."

"Is the Mirror of Erised known to hurt people?" Hermione asked.

"People who look into it for too long are supposed to become ensnared, unable to look away, they wither until nothings left." Pansy shrugged. "At least that's all I remember about it."

"What if we only looked at it one at a time? That way if we stare at it to long we can pull each other away." I said. Pansy looked unsure but Hermione seemed bound and determined to finally make some progress.

"Let's do it." Hermione said. With that we stood and left the room, stopping only to peer out the door before leaving to see if anyone was in the hallway.

"So who wants to do the honors?" I asked. Pansy and Hermione glanced at each other before Pansy stepped forward.

"_Mirror of Erised… Mirror of Erised… Mirror of Erised,"_ Pansy muttered as she walked back and forth in front of the dancing trolls. When the door appeared we all looked at each other before moving as one to open it.

We stepped inside, our breaths misting in the chilled air. "It's freezing," Hermione said, slipping her hands into her robes, Pansy followed suit. The weather had gotten steadily colder since the start of school in September and now half way through November it was snowing. The air in here was much colder, the chill seeming to spread out from the mirror in the middle of the room.

The mirror itself was _wrong_, in a way that I can't quite put into words. It radiated menace in a manner that Voldemort could only hope to imitate. But at the same time it drew the eye, it made you look at it. Drawing you in and holding you as it sapped the life from you.

"I've changed my mind, let's try something else." I said nervously. This was not the mirror I remembered, not even close. "Pansy, are you sure you summoned the right mirror?"

I looked over when Pansy didn't answer to see her staring entranced at the mirror. Looking over at Hermione revealed her to be similarly snared. "Hermione." No response, but as I watched they both started moving towards the mirror, "That's not good."

The room we were in was small, barely half the size of a classroom. So they only had to walk maybe twenty feet to reach the mirror. Something I was fairly sure was a bad idea.

I twitched my arm, sending my wand into my hand. Well that's what was supposed to happen, instead it slipped through my fingers and clattered on the floor. What the hell? I stared at it a moment, that hadn't happened since I first got my holster.

I shook my head, time to focus. Grabbing my wand I tried summing them but my spell seemed to fissile out even as I cast it. "Not good, _really_ not good!" I was close to panicking but I managed to stick my wand back into my holster.

Magic's not working so that just left stopping them physically. Thankfully they were just shambling towards the mirror, Pansy slower than Hermione, so I ran over to Hermione and grabbed her to pull her away. "Hermione, _Hermione_ come on!" I pulled and pulled but she just kept stumbling towards the mirror. Finally I yanked her off her feet sending her spiraling. "Sorry," I said wincing, at the small cracking sound her head made as she hit the floor.

I turned towards Pansy, ignoring the retching coming from Hermione, she was nearly at the mirror. I threw myself at her catching her just as her hand was reaching for the mirror. Strong enough to carry me she may have been, but she was still an eleven year old girl. When I hit her we both went to the floor.

Pansy started gaging so I threw myself backwards away from her to avoid any spill over.

"_Alex…"_

"Huh," I turned around, only to find myself face to face with the mirror.

"_Alex…"_

"Mama," I felt my mind clouding, felt something start pulling on my magic, but I didn't care Mama was here. Both of them were here. Sliding forward just a bit I embraced the mirror. "Mama." Distantly I heard voices call my name but by then I was more focused on my family.

I don't know how I missed them earlier they were right there. My parents from my last life, so happy to see me again after so long. My sister, my Grandmother even my Papa, alive and well, was here. Not just them but Aunt Petunia, Dudley and Vernon and Padfoot, Moony even Wormtail and of course my Parents that sacrificed their lives to protect me, Lilly and James were there to. They were all here and they all got along, just like a family should.

It was wonderful, but I could tell that there was more.

Looking behind my gathered family I saw an intricately carved throne, black as night with snow white highlights. It radiated power and import, whoever sat there was no one to be trifled with.

Leading to the throne was a set of steps and siting on the top was a women in a blue robe and an easy smile. I couldn't make out her features but from what I could see she was beautiful. Looking lower I saw more women all beautiful, all indistinct.

I smiled. It was nice to see such happy people. I was about to turn back to my family, Mama Lilly had made cinnamon rolls, when I noticed that some of the women were entwined together. Looking closer I saw that each women was chained to the throne, shackles attached to each limb, and at the foot of the stairs lay Voldemort.

Looking at him, at still bleeding wounds adorning his body, each one made to cause the maximum amount of pain. I knew that I had caused them. That I had taken my time, and reveled in his pain. That he begged for mercy and I took pleaser in denying him any.

I was about to go over and do _something_, when I was suddenly wrenched from the mirror. I started throwing up, dry heaves racking my body when I emptied my stomach.

"Shh, it's ok. Just let it out." Hermione said, as she held my hair back. With one last heave I collapsed. Hermione made sure I didn't land in the puddle.

"Let's get her inside." Pansy said. Looking around I noticed we were in the hallway. Hermione nodded and helped me up, vanishing my mess once we were standing and we made our way inside.

Pansy had made the room manifest as the usual library. Hermione helped me over to one of the couches, Pansy chose one near by. We sat there for a long time, no one wanted to be the first to break the silence.

"That, _cough_," I stopped until I got my breathing under control. "That was not what I was expecting." Trying for levity I didn't feel.

Hermione huffed. "I should hope not." Pansy's lips twitched but otherwise stayed flat.

I sighed before asking, "What was that?"

Pansy spoke, "That was the Mirror of Erised."

I was about to speak when I was hit with racking coughs. Hermione rubbed my back until I got it under control. Ugh, I felt drained and shaky, like I hadn't eaten in a few days.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Hermione asked, her voice soft. I shrugged, the mirror I was thinking about shouldn't have but that was not this mirror.

"The story I heard said that it would drain you if you stayed to long in front of it. I don't remember anything about it, it, enthralling people at least not that quickly." Pansy's voice shook as she spoke. "I didn't know it could do that." She paused before continuing in a faint voice. "Why did it show me that?" I don't think we were supposed to hear her.

I swallowed, what I saw felt so real. It wasn't just a picture in the mirror, it was like I was there. It felt right, it was right, even the throne and chained women felt right.

"Do," I swallowed, "do you want to talk about it?" I didn't but if they needed to I would listen.

Pansy smiled a little before shaking her head. "No, thank you for asking."

I nodded. "Ok." We stayed there a moment just resting, before I spoke up again. "Well its getting late and I don't know about you…" I tried to stand, but fell back.

"Alex, Are you ok?" Hermione asked, pansy gave me concerned look.

I nodded. "Yeah, just tired."

"Will you be able to make it to your room?" Pansy asked.

"Maybe?" I said. I honestly wasn't sure.

Pansy snorted. "Maybe we should just stay here." I raised an eyebrow. "I mean if you're having trouble standing, making it back to Ravenclaw without drawing attention is almost impossible." If I didn't know better I would think she wanted us to stay.

"I think that's a good idea." Hermione said. "It's not like we have to worry about roommates."

I smiled. "Sounds good."

**888**

Sleep that night did not come easy. The couches while comfortable, were still couches and my mind kept going back to the vision the mirror showed me.

I sighed, if I couldn't get to sleep I may as well get something useful out of it. Breath, focus, _sense_. It should be noted that when I meditate like this I am focusing on myself, not my surroundings. So I was able to _sense_ without being overwhelmed by Hogwarts.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

My family being together, whole and alive, was something I had expected. It was the first time in eleven years that I had seen some of their faces and as sick as the mirror left me I was glad for the chance to see them again. Even if it did pick at a sore that I gotten used to ignoring.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

Seeing Voldemort like that was not what I expected. If I saw him at all I would have expected him to simply be dead, maybe laying at my feet. Not the still living corps that was still screaming.

It was true I wanted him dead, after he killed my parents who could blame me? But I had never really thought about torturing him. Idle revenge fantasies aside, usually me utterly humiliating him as I single handedly defeat him and his followers in a running duel, I had always pictured Voldemort's defeat and death as something relatively quick and painless. Like something out of a Disney movie.

Still the more I thought about it the less the thought breaking him bothered me. Torture was wrong, there's no way around that, but for Voldemort I think I would be willing to compromise my morals. If that made me a bad person well I didn't much care. That bastard had murdered my parents and I would have my revenge.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

Still the chances of me being in a position of such dominance and security that I would risk torturing him was so small it wasn't even funny. As such it wasn't something I was really worried about.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

The throne, I admit, was something of a shook. If that truly was the Mirror of Erised, and I think it was, it should have shown me my heart's desire. So why would it show me a throne? A throne implied something to rule. Which meant responsibility, something I already had too much of.

Breath, focus, _sense_.

Could it have represented something else, power perhaps? If it was power that would make sense. Even in my last life I had wanted power. The power to do what I wanted to be who I wanted to be, the power to make things the way I wanted them to be. Was that it, did I just want the power to be myself and not have to worry about what others might say?

Or, given that the throne, my throne, had women chained to it, mean something else entirely? I blushed, taking the women into consideration gave the throne a new, and fairly obvious, meaning. I may be eleven now, but I remember being of age. I remember the feeling of another person lying beside you-my blush intensified-post coitus. I was far from ready for that, but in the future?

I sighed and rolled over, slipping from my trance. Whatever else it did the mirror certainly gave me something to think about. With that, I was finally able to drift off to sleep.

**888**

I woke up feeling much better. The drained-sick feeling was gone and I was very happy for it. I sat up stretching as I went and nearly fell of couch when Pansy spoke.

"I was starting to get worried." My heart was beating about a million miles an hour as turned to look over to see her reading, her usual smirk back in place after last night's events. "If you stayed out much longer I was going to give serious consideration to taking you to the hospital wing." Her voice was light, but I could hear the worry there.

Still I glared at her. "Why do people have an obsession with sneaking up on me? Honestly first Quirrell, then a troll of all things, and of course Dumbledore had to get in on the action and now you." Why did people do this to me? "I'm delicate this is going to drive me into an early grave!"

Pansy's smirk grew and her shoulders lost some tension. "Firstly I didn't sneak up on you. I was sitting here waiting for you to wake up, like a _good_ concerned friend should. Secondly if you do, in fact, die like that, can I have your pen?"

"Like a good concerned friend? Your just here for my pen!" I said, pointing at her dramatically.

She responded in an innocent voice. "You might think so, I couldn't possibly comment." I felt a shiver go down my spine as she said it, but I shook it off.

"So where's Hermione?" I would have expected her to be here.

"I think she's looking for information on the Mirror." Pansy said, nodding towards the upper floors of the library.

I frowned, "How'd she seem?"

Pansy shrugged. "She seemed ok, determined, but ok."

"Determined?" I asked.

"She seemed like she wanted to prove something." Pansy said.

"Good," I said, before giving Pansy a one over. She seemed ok, her makeup was perfect, her hair just so and smiles came at the right times. But there was a stiffness in her posture that wasn't there yesterday. "How are you doing?"

She froze for a moment before responding stiffly, "I'm fine." She paused before continuing in a heated voice. "If you're so concerned about what it showed me why don't you share what it showed you."

It was my turn to freeze.

Her eyes caught the light as she smiled, teeth sharp. "See don't want to talk about it do you?"

I took a deep breath and let it out, and did that a few more times before responding. "No, I don't want to talk about it." Pansy's smile turned triumphant, but before she could speak I continued. "But if you really want to hear it I'll tell you." I didn't want to talk about it. Seeing my family was the least objectionable thing I saw and I wouldn't even be able to be completely honest about that, let alone Voldemort and the, uh, tied up women.

"Look what the Mirror showed me last night was disturbing, and what it showed you was probably even more disturbing," how could it not be? I had the advantage of a previous life to help make sense of what I saw and I was still all turned up about it. How much worse must it have been for them? "But unless I miss my guess it was something you wanted." She flinched but nodded. "Something you don't want to want?" She nodded again. "Whatever it was, whatever it showed you, it ok to want it."

Pansy had started to look at the floor as I spoke, but her head shoot up to stare at me when I said that. "But…"

It was a testament to how raddled she was that I was able to interrupt her, usually she could walk verbal circles around me. "It's ok to want something, even something bad. Wanting something doesn't make you a bad person." If it did I was going straight to hell, and everyone else was coming with me. "It makes you human." I heard Hermione coming down the stairs so I rushed to finish. "If want to talk about it, I'm here." I gave her a reassuring smile before turning to look as Hermione finished coming down the stairs.

"So did you find anything?"

**888**

Turns out she had. The Mirror of Erised was, as we already knew, a Sidhe artifact. It was given to a widower who wished to see his dead love once more. So he makes a bargain with the Leanansidhe for an object to let him see her again. It's said that the widower and the Leanansidhe haggled for three days before finally coming to an accord. In exchange for his freely given love the Leanansidhe would allow him to see his departed wife again.

With the deal struck the Leanansidhe left to make the mirror, when she returned the widower demanded he see his wife before giving his love to the Leanansidhe. She was furious, for the deal was for him to give her his love before gazing upon his late wife, and in her fury she cursed the mirror to show him his greatest and darkest desires. When he looked upon the mirror he saw his late wife, and he rejoiced at seeing her again, but the image was so real, so life like that he reached out to touch her and dropped dead.

I scratched my head before asking. "So wait, if she cursed it to show his greatest desires…"

"Greatest and Darkest." Hermione interrupted.

I rolled my eyes, but continued. "Fine, greatest and darkest desires. Why did it kill him?"

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, before pausing. "I, uh, hum." She flipped through a few pages, the book was so worn down there wasn't even a title. "It doesn't say."

"No one gets the better end of a bargain with a fay, no one. The mirror was probably supposed to kill him in the first place. That's probably why she wanted his love first." Pansy said.

"That's horrible." Hermione said, hand covering her mouth.

"If it was supposed to kill him anyway why curse it to show anything else, it just needed to show him his wife, right?" I asked.

"It's a book on legends, this one is about a mirror almost as old as Hogwarts. There are bound to be some inconsistences." Pansy said shrugging.

I furred my brow, not satisfied with that answer. Even if it did make sense. Still unless we got more information on it, it would have to do.

I sighed before casting the tempus charm. "Humm, just before noon. Why don't we make an appearance at lunch?" I was hungry, the mirror had drained me and while the nights rest had helped it didn't change the fact that I needed to eat, and after last night I felt like I could eat a full cow.

If anything I was underestimating how much I needed to eat. We got to the Great hall just a lunch was staring and I was still eating nearly an hour and a half later. Hermione ate more than usual as well but I by far outpaced her.

"Are you ok Alex?" Hermione asked, concerned. Still chewing the succulent brisket I just nodded. The house-elves were really on the ball today. Hermione looked over to the Slytherin table to share a concerned look with Pansy, she rarely sat with us during meal times.

I rolled my eyes and swallowed before speaking up. "I'm fine, just really hungry." I gave Pansy a reassuring smile, she didn't look convinced but went back to talking to her house mates. I was about to reach for some desert when the food disappeared. "Aww, I really wanted some chocolate cake." I started pouting.

"You certainly didn't need any." Hermione said, disapprovingly. I pouted harder. "_Ack_, don't give me that look." My lower lip started trembling, Hermione covered her face. I leaned forward and started making little whimpering noises. Hermione continued ignoring me.

**888**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

**Quidditch?**

Things were somewhat tense after The Mirror, we still got together but after a few days we drifted apart. Pansy had taken to avoiding us, and Hermione threw herself into school work and I was left floundering.

I like my alone time as much, if not more than, the average person, but I had gotten used to being with my friends. If I thought it was just time that they needed I would have simply left them alone, after making sure they knew I was there for them.

And at first that's what I did and I thought it was working but, if anything, they were getting worse. Yesterday I saw dark rings under Hermione's eyes, and given how pronounced they were she must not have been getting much sleep for the past week. I had noticed them before, but I saw just how dark they had gotten last night.

Hogwarts, or at least the Ravenclaw dormitories, was far too quite at night so I sleep with a white noise charm set on my bed. It was a bit too advanced for me to do myself, so I paid a six year to set it permanently on my bed. Cost me a galleon, but it let me sleep so it was worth it in my books.

Last night though, having noticed Hermione's dark eyes, I deactivated the charm after I thought she had fallen asleep. Only to hear her moaning in her sleep.

"No…Grace…no." She tossed and turned for an hour or more before finally settling into a deeper sleep. She woke up looking more like an extra on I-zombie than the girl that I had come to know.

As if that wasn't bad enough just a few days ago I saw Pansy say _something_ to a third year, Brian something that sent him running. If rumor is to be believed he didn't go to any classes that day.

All of which led me here, waiting outside the Herbology greenhouse waiting for Pansy's class to let out. I had skipped my last class, history, to make it here before Pansy could leave. She had been going from class to class and the Great Hall to the Slytherin dorms, somehow avoiding me each time. This time I was going to make her talk to me.

I look up as I heard the greenhouse door open. The first ones out were the Gryffindors, leading the charge was Ron Weasley. I kept an eye on him as he ran towards the castle. I had managed to forget about Wormtail but the mirror had reminded me.

Unfortunately until I could prove one way or the other that he was guilty, or that the rat that the Weasley family handed down was in fact Wormtail, or if there even was a rat, I would have to bide my time. Sirius had made it more or less intact until third year in canon, and while I planned to see him freed before then, he would keep until I could manage to free him. Hopefully.

The Slytherins followed, walking at a dignified pace. Pansy was not amongst them. I waited for them to pass before going into the greenhouse. Standing in the doorway I look around the room and seeing neither hide nor hair of her.

"_Point me_" my wand waved back and forth for a moment before pointing just behind the nearest table. "Really Pansy, a disillusionment charm just to avoid me?"

Pansy faded into view, an irritated look on her face. "I'm just practicing." She grimaced as she said it, she knew it sounded week.

I raised an eyebrow. "Reallllly," I said drawing out the word.

Her eye started twitching a little before she took a calming breath and spoke. "Is there something you want Potter?" her voice was icy.

I ignored her tone, "Yes there is," I stopped speaking, draw her in, and let her ask the next question.

She sighed annoyed, "And what is it you want?"

I smiled brightly at her. "I want you to go the Quidditch game with me!"

It was nearly winter break and I had not attended a single Quidditch game since school started. It wasn't that I didn't like the game or that I hated it. It was just that I was never really into sports, and I was busy with more important things, like learning occlumency. Her reaction was about what I expected.

Pansy blinked. "What?" I just smiled wider.

**888**

"I thought we were going to the game?" Pansy asked as we walked to the library. I nodded in agreement. She waited a moment for me to speak but continued when I didn't. "Sooooo, why are we going to library? Isn't Hermione waiting in the stands?"

"Nope!" I answered cheerfully.

She hesitated a moment before speaking. "Is Hermione going to the game?" Another enthusiastic nod. "So why isn't she…" Pansy trailed off thinking. "Does Hermione know she's going to the game?"

My answering grin actually caused her to lean away from me. "Nope!"

"A-ah," She said. "Why doesn't Hermione know?"

"She might say no if I asked her by myself." I answered.

She nodded while pursuing her lips. "What if she says no anyway?"

My grin grew. "Then you'll have to carry her."

"Carry her?" Pansy asked, sounding bemused. I was saved from answering because we made it the library and found Hermione with her nose buried in the potion's book.

"Hermione," no response, "Hermione," nothing. Reaching into my bag I pulled out a quill and started tickling Hermione's ear, only pulling back when her hand flew back and hit her ear. I stifled a laugh as she turned around to glare at me, Pansy had no such inclination and started laughing when she saw Hermione's face.

"What?!" Hermione hissed.

"Quiet!" Madam Pince said. Hermione ducked her head and we all quieted.

"What," Hermione said again.

"Pansy and I want you to come to the Quidditch game with us." I said cheerfully, if quietly. Pansy shot me a look and Hermione looked annoyed.

"Why?" Hermione asked reasonably.

"It'll be fun!" I said. Pansy and Hermione exchanged looks and I sighed. We were going to have fun, even if it hurt dammit. "Look, the past week has been hard for all of us, and I think the game is a good chance for us to unwind and hang out."

Hermione gave her books a longing look before agreeing to come with us.

The walk out to the pitch, with a quick stop by the Great Hall for food, was spent chatting about class work and the weather. Idol talk that stayed well away from any heavy topics and most especially anything to do with mirrors.

Before long we were taking our seats in the Ravenclaw section of the stands. There were only a few other Ravenclaws here as it was both very cold and the match was Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff.

My plane was simple, we had all had a tough time since the mirror and the Quidditch match would give us all a chance to relax. I wasn't much for sports but I knew it was easy to get caught up in the emotions of the crowed and not think.

As the match progressed on my plane seemed to be working. Pansy and Hermione were getting into the game, Pansy cheering for Hufflepuff and Hermione for Gryffindor. I went back and forth, cheering for whichever team seemed to be winning at the time.

I remember reading a lot of fanfics that hated on Quidditch, watching the match I couldn't understand why. It was an interesting, for a sport. Fast paced and energetic it was entertaining to watch. Most of the fics that bashed it focused on the seeker position as the weak link in Quidditch.

As far as school games went, I could certainly see why some people would have problems with it. When the seeker caught the snitch they ended the game and earned 150 points and in a school match that was almost always the deciding factor. In a professional match though it was only a drop in the bucket.

Professional games often had scores in the low thousands, as the matches could last days at a time, and the seeker would often be employed to disrupt plays of opposing teams' in-between looking for the snitch.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard Pansy cry out. I had been looking the other way but when I turned to look at her I saw that she had stopped a bludger with her hand. My eyes widened as I saw her throw it towards one of the Weasley twins, who was look at us in horror as midway to him the ball abruptly reversed direction and was heading right for us and it wasn't alone. Every ball on the pitch was coming right behind it.

"Shit!" I said, twitching my wand into my hand. Only for Pansy to grab me and start for the stairs.

"The stands are shielded, and the bludger went right through it!" Hermione said from just behind us. We made it to the stairs when I heard it slam into the stands and something snapped, loudly.

We were making good time down the stairs but I could see the balls coming around for another pass. I was about to try my hand at the _reducto_ curse when the beaters from both teams came out of nowhere and started beating the balls back. We slowed down gasping for breath.

They were doing a good job keeping the homicide balls at bay but the quaffle made it past them. I let loose a reducto only to miss. I was about to try again when Pansy pushed me down, just in time to avoided being hit in the head.

The quaffle slammed into the stair way, lodging itself several inches in the wood. For a moment it was still before it started wiggling to get out. Pansy started holding it in place.

"Well that was cl-_ch_," that was of course when the snitch buried itself in my chest. Not literally thankfully, but it made a valiant effort. When it hit it drove the air from my lungs and, if Hermione hadn't grabbed me, would have sent me tumbling down the stairs. As it was I fell on my ass, in too much pain to hold myself up.

I tried to breathe but I couldn't seem to draw in any air, it wasn't until Hermione reached down and grabbed the snitch, which was still digging into my chest, and pulled it lose. That I could finally breathe and I did so, taking in ragged pain filled breaths. The spots in my eyes final went away.

With that taken care of I was able to notice the Professors arrive, Quirrell wasn't with them thankfully, and let myself relax and be taken to the hospital wing.

**888**

_Hermione_

I was running for my life and it was all Alex's fault. If she had just let me work on the potions essay, that was due _Monday_ as she well knew, I wouldn't be running from, of all things, Quidditch balls.

Honestly _Quidditch_ balls!

I admit the game had been entertaining, for a sporting event, but the death balls took away from the experience. How the darn things made it through the stand shields I have no idea. They were charmed to be spell resistant, to avoid cheating on the pitch, but to completely ignore the shields around the stands was unheard of!

I was pulled from my thoughts when one of the balls, I didn't recognize which one it was off hand, slammed into the stairway. I heard Alex start to say something before falling back into me while gasping for breath.

The noises she made were nauseating, almost like Gra-.

Dry swallowing I forced my thoughts onto current matters. Alex was still gasping and Pansy was wrestling with one of the balls, trying to hold it in place.

"_Gak_," Alex was sounding worse by the moment. Moving her arms, which had been gripping her chest, I saw the problem. The snitch, that's the small ball right? Was still digging lodged in her rib cage, just looking at it I could see a few of Alex's ribs were broken.

I grabbed the snitch and pulled, it was really stuck in there, but I finally got it out. It flapped its wings trying to get away, likely for another pass at my friend, but I was able to hold into it long enough for Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout to arrive.

The Quidditch players had managed to collect the wayward balls, all except the snitch and the one Pansy was still holding onto. We were quickly relieved of our burdens and even more quickly ushered down the remaining stairs, Alex was of course levitated, and brought behind the teacher's stand which had a fire place at its base for speedy trips to the hospital wing. Professor McGonagall and Alex went first with Pansy and I following soon after.

When I made it though I saw that Madam Pomfrey had already finished with Alex and was working on Pansy's hand. Worried I walked over and took Alex's hand.

"Why does God hate my chest?" Alex asked.

"…What?" I, just, what?

Alex looked me and in an earnest voice asked again. "Why does God hate my chest?" She looked so confused.

"Did Madan Pomfrey examine your head?" Because Alex was known to make bizarre statements, but this took the cake.

Alex looked at me curiously before answering. "She did her usual diagnostic spells, I think that that includes something that checks my head. Why?"

Why? "Because you asked if God hates your chest?" Was I really having this conversation?

Alex nodded. "God does seem to hate it."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, honestly curious.

"Whenever I get hurt, it seems to be in the chest." Alex answered.

"Ah," I responded. "That's ridicules."

Alex responded sulkily, "No it's not."

"Yes, it is." I stated firmly, Alex just pouted. I barely noticed the tension that I had been feeling since this all started had eased.

Pansy made her way over to us after Madam Pomfrey was done with her.

"How's your hand?" Alex asked.

Pansy's usual smirk was in place when she responded. "Better than your chest." Alex smirked at her.

"How are you three doing?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Good," "Fine," "Swell," We responded. I shot Alex a look, swell?

"Professor why did the Quidditch balls attack us?" I asked.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips before responding. "The Quidditch equipment is very old. Hogwarts has been using the same set for nearly two hundred years. Items that old tend to take on personalities of their own."

"So the old balls decided to try and take our heads off?" Pansy asked unconvinced. I very much shared her disbelief.

Professor McGonagall's lips thinned even more. "Doubtful, most likely someone spelled them as a prank, or as a way to help them win a match, and it got out of hand. When I find the perpetrators they will be serving a month of dentitions." She seemed to already have someone in mind. The Weasley twins were the most likely suspects in my opinion. There had been dozens of pranks since school had started and they were the main suspects in each, and had been punished for at least nine of them. How they haven't been expelled I will never understand. "Now, once Madam Pomfrey releases you I expect you all to head directly to your dorms. Is that understood?"

"Yes Ma'am," "Yes Professor," "Swell," I wasn't the only one to give Alex a look this time, but of course she just smiled innocently.

Professor McGonagall nodded firmly, "See that you do." With that she left and Madam Pomfrey came over.

"You are all free to leave. After I examine Miss Granger." Why she needed to examine me I have no idea, but despite explaining that I was completely fine she insisted.

After a quick examination we left, though Alex did take a moment to talk with Madam Pomfrey to get her calming potion for tonight. After today she would definitely need it.

"We need to talk." Alex said looking serious. I stiffened after a moment I forced myself to relax. It wasn't the first time Alex had tried to talk about what happened with the Mirror of Erised and I didn't want to talk about it any more now than I did then.

"We need to get to our rooms." Pansy said. It sounded like she wanted to talk about it less than I did.

I nodded in agreement. "You heard Professor McGonagall, it's almost curfew. If we don't get going we will get in trouble."

Alex sighed, "If we get in trouble so be it. This is more important." I was about to interrupt her when she continued. "Hermione your having nightmares, you're not sleeping and your barely eating." I flinched, I didn't think she noticed. Turning to Pansy she continued. "Pansy you've been avoiding us, if I'm right you've been avoiding everyone. I certainly haven't seen you hang out with your house mates." Alex sighed again. "Do I even need to mention O'Brian?"

Pansy had flinched at every point, but she remained silent.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore than either of you do, but we _need_ to talk about it. Or it will just keep eating us up." When neither of us spoke up Alex continued. "Well then come on." With that she turned and started walking.

Pansy and I exchanged looks before following.

The trip to the Room of Requirement, because where else were we going to have this discussion, was made in silence. I could feel my heart speed up as we got closer to our destination. I was close to just walking away when Pansy grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I gave her a smile and she nodded encouragingly.

After entering our library, Alex led us over to the fire place and we sat down. We sat there for a while none of us saying anything, before Alex reluctantly spoke up.

"Ok, let's try this. The mirror, it showed us some bad stuff right? But it also showed us some good stuff?" Pansy and I both nodded. "So, why don't we try talking about the good things first?" She looked at us both until we voiced our agreement. "I guess I'll go first."

Alex was quiet a long time, so long I was about to tell her to just forget about the whole thing, when she finally started speaking. "I saw my f-family," Her voice broke as she spoke, "I saw my parents alive together and _happy_, so happy." Tears were running freely as she spoke. "It's been so long since I've seen them I had almost forgotten their faces." Alex took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm glad I got to see them but it hurts." Alex dabbed her eyes, "So who's next?"

Pansy spoke up hesitantly, "My father's sick, very sick and my mother is, well I don't really know what she is but she isn't _here_. The mirror, it showed me them together and healthy and proud of me." Pansy didn't look up until she finished speaking, her eyes were red but she didn't seem to be crying. Alex leaned over and gave her a hug. When she let go they both looked at me.

I swallowed before looking at the floor and speaking. "I was head girl and my parents were both very proud." After what they saw, how could mine even compare? It was so shallow, my parents were both alive and happy. What must they think of me? I was still staring at the ground when I felt both of them start hugging me and I let myself relax.

We separated and Alex spoke up. "Before we start talking about what else the mirror showed us I think we should take some of this." She pulled out her calming potion.

"Are you trying to drug us Potter?" Pansy asked, bemused.

Alex shrugged, "Yes."

"What?!" I asked.

"Look this is going to be hard, very hard and I think we need to have a bit of this so we can talk about it. Because if we don't take it I don't think we'll be able to really talk about it." Neither Pansy nor I spoke. "Look adults do it all the time with alcohol, when they have something they need to talk about but can't or don't want to talk about. They use alcohol, it's perfectly normal." She sounded like one of those people from those warning videos they showed in school, the ones you're supposed to avoid.

I was about to tell her that when Pansy reached over and took the vial before taking a drink. The potion must have worked because her voice was almost robotic as she spoke, "My mother is not a nice, _person_ she is the reason my father's sick. She's the reason he doesn't go out, the reason he doesn't leave the house, ever." She was staring at the potions bottle as she spoke. "I saw them together and happy but I also saw her dead and paying for her crimes." In spite of the potion I could hear the satisfaction in her voice. "She paid dearly." Pansy handed me the bottle.

Alex moved a little closer to Pansy to give her a proper hug, before giving me an encouraging smile. I sighed and took a drink, shivering as I felt it get to work. It was a disconcerting feeling, though I could not tell so at the time, I could still feel my emotions but there was this, disconnect between me and them.

"I was bullied badly before I came to Hogwarts, but there was one bully that was really bad. Grace, she was horrible. Day in and day out, she wouldn't leave me _alone_. In the mirror I saw her dead and I knew I killed her." Her chocking, gasping and…Despite the potion I couldn't go on. The mirror had shown me more, every bully, from before and from Hogwarts, was on their knees worshipping the very ground I walked on and it felt great. As bad as that was it didn't compare to killing Grace.

I gave the potion a look before taking another sip, enjoying the instant calm it induced.

Alex reached over and took it saying, "Save some for me." She downed the rest before speaking. "I saw Vol…" even though the calm of the potion I felt a little shock when Pansy practically jumped at Alex and covered her mouth.

Pansy blushed a little before going back to her seat. "Please don't say his name, people who say his name die and I don't want you to die."

"What do you mean, he's dead isn't he?" I asked, before giving Alex a concerned look when she flinched a little.

Pansy nodded before speaking. "Yes, but he did something. A spell of some sort that let him know when someone said his name they died. No matter what wards they were hiding behind, if someone said his name he was able to get to them."

"But he's dead now, so why can't we say his name?" I asked curious, if he was dead what did it matter who said his name?

Pansy shook her head. "He is dead, but not all of his followers are. It's mostly just rumor but there's been more than one murder victim that had the dark mark found at their home."

"That's horrible." I said, though the potion kept me from feeling the full impact of that.

Pansy nodded looking at Alex, "So please don't say his name, it's been a while since the last killing but…"

"You can't be too careful." Alex finished. "Ok I won't say it."

"Thank you."

We sat there for a moment before Alex started talking again. "Where was I? Right, I saw, _him_, but I had killed him. Or rather I had tortured him so badly that he would be better off dead. But he wasn't, dead that is, I could still hear his screams." Alex's voice was disturbingly matter of fact, the potion was really potent.

We didn't say anything for a while. Just sitting there absorbing everything that had been said and what it meant.

"Do you think we would be missed if we stayed here tonight?" Pansy asked.

"I, for one, don't care if they do." Alex said.

We really should get back, it was a miracle we weren't caught last time, but after everything. "Maybe you can come to our room tonight and we can push the beds together?"

Alex and Pansy exchanged a look before voicing agreement. With that decided we left the room, after Disillusioning and silencing ourselves, and made our way to Ravenclaw for the first goodnights sleep I had had in over a week.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

**Circles**

Last night was very productive, a good thing too as Monday was the last day of school before winter break and, as bad as Pansy and Hermione were last night, I would hate to see how things were after another two weeks of letting things fester. It certainly would not have been pleasant.

I somehow ended up in the middle of the combined beds with both Pansy and Hermione having me in a death grip, even though I started the night on the outer edge of the bed. Which wouldn't have been that bad, if I didn't have to pee.

I may have been able to wiggle out if it was just Hermione but Pansy had gone to bed in her House Robes. So when I tried to dislodge her grip, well, I may as well have been trying to push Hogwarts up a hill for all the good it did me.

After a good ten minutes of trying and failing to get lose I spotted Hermione's advanced charms book. If there was a way to get out of this, without waking them up, it would be in there. After twitching my wand into my hand (yes I sleep with it, no it's not weird) and levitating it to me I started awkwardly flipping through the book.

"Freezing charms no…fire charms no…, hmm switching charms? That might work." I read through the instructions a few times until I felt I had the wand motions and incantation memorized before sending the book back towards Hermione's dresser. "Now, just need something to switch with." Looking around the room I tried to find something to switch with, unfortunately the only things I could see was the dressers and they were both too big for me to switch with and they would squish my bed mates on the off chance that I managed it anyway.

Well if I can't switch with something off the bed why not switch with something, or someone on the bed. The question was who to switch with? Pansy was an option but probably a bad one. She had gone to sleep in her House Robes, she never seemed to take them off, and they may have some sort of protection on them that may interact poorly with the switching spell. So Hermione it was.

Staring at Hermione I incanted, "_spatium commutationem._" Sadly my first attempt was met with failure as nothing happened. I tried again "_spatium commutationem_," at first I thought I had failed again when I noticed that I had managed to switch Hermione's and I's pajamas.

I had, anticipation of being sorted into Ravenclaw, bought a set of blue and bronze night cloths. Hermione's on the other hand were a dark red color, which did not flatter me at all.

Feeling the urge to go to the bathroom increase I tried the switching charm again. The feeling of the charm taking affect was odd, it was nearly instantaneous but at the same time the switch seemed to stretch out for a long moment.

I let lose a soft puff of breath as I found myself in Hermione's former position, before sliding out of the bed and heading off at a dead run for the bathroom.

After taking care of business I made my way back to the room, where I found Hermione and Pansy sitting up and stretching. I felt my eye twitch, after everything they just wake up.

"Alex why are you wearing my clothes?" Hermione asked. My eye twitched again.

**888**

The rest of the weekend passed in a similar fashion, with the three of us goofing off and having fun. At least when we weren't finishing the last of our essays before winter break. For some reason Hermione kept glaring at me while we were working on our Potions essay, ten uses for silver in potion making, and wouldn't tell me why when I asked.

It was the last class of the day, actually it was the only class of the day. For some reason Potions was the only class we had today. It made some sense given that the Hogwarts Express was leaving after lunch, but then why have class at all today? _Sigh_. I swear I will never understand school logic.

Still if we had to class on our last day before break, I was glad it was Potions. They were always interesting, even if it was incredibly gross at times. I was not looking forward to later years, all the first year's potions ingredients were already dead. Some of the upper years did not have that luxury.

Snape was waiting for us as we made our way to our seats, which was a little odd as he seemed to like swooping in at the last moment slamming the door behind him as he went. My theory was he enjoyed the slight jumps the Hufflepuffs made every time he did it. Even if you'd think they would have gotten used to it by now. I admit I took a certain pleasure in watching Perks jump each class.

"Today we will be discussing the use of circles in potions." Snape's low drawling voice swept over the class. "Can anyone tell me what a circle is, as it relates to potion making?"

Hermione's hand was the first one up, as always. Snape waited a few moments before calling on her, he usually gave the rest of the class a moment to raise their hand before calling on her. Otherwise it would just be Hermione answering his questions.

"Circles are used when a potion requires complete protection from outside magical influence." Hermione recited dutifully.

"Correct." Snape nodded slightly. "For best results it is recommended that you use concentric circles numbering at least three. But for today's lesson you will only need one circle. We will be brewing the Purges Tonic, does anyone know what it is used for?"

Hermione's hand shot up, mine following close behind. Snape called on me right away.

"The Purges Tonic can be used, much like a bezoar, to cure most poisons but it is mostly used to, well, purge foreign substances from your body." I said. I admit, I made sure to read ahead.

"Correct Miss Potter," Snape said. "The Purges Tonic is often used on victims of unwanted love potions and those who have imbued too much firewhiskey." He nodded towards the ingredients cabinet. "You will find all the necessary ingredients in there, as well as some chalk for you to draw your circles. Be sure to have all your ingredients with you before you start brewing, as any outside interference in the process _will_ ruin your potion. As well as getting a failing grade for this class you will not be able to take your potion with you, for those of you who properly brew it of course. Remember that once you draw your circle you must power it with your will and magic."

With that the class got to work, Hermione went to get what we needed from the cabinet and when she got back I started drawing the circle around our table. When I was done, and Hermione had triple checked that we had all the necessary ingredients, I focused my will and pushed slightly, smirking as I felt the circle cut us off from the rest the world. Magically speaking at least.

Going back and forth Hermione and me carefully and methodically cut, chopped and crushed the ingredients into the necessary portions. Once that was done we got to work adding them in at the proper times.

"Is it three stirs clock wise or counter clock wise?" I asked Hermione, she checked the book.

"Clock wise three times then counter clock wise three times, pausing for three seconds between each stir." I nodded my thanks.

"I think it's done." I said, the potion was a hot purple color like the book said it should be.

"I think you're right." Hermione said before she started ladling some of the mixture into a glass vial. After corking it she walked it to the Snape's desk for his inspection. After giving it to him she came back and said. "He said we each get O's for the day and that we can each take a vial of it with us if we want." She sounded quite pleased with herself. I nodded while getting myself some of the potion before leaving the class room.

**888**

I had finished packing last night, so after eating some lunch I started making my way back to Ravenclaw to get my things, Hermione had elected to simply carry her things with her so she would be meeting me on the train.

"Going home for the holiday's Potter?" Quirrell said, I kept from jumping only with a great deal of restraint. Even so my heart was beating a million miles an minute.

Turning around slowly, my wand already in my hand but carefully pointed at the ground, I saw him. Quirrell was laying in a little nook a book held in casually in his hands. As I turned to face him he stood and tucked the book into his robes.

"Yes Professor." I said respectfully. Just because I suspected that he was Voldemort didn't mean I was going to mouth off to him. Respect had been drummed into me at an early age, just because you thought someone was trying to kill you didn't mean you started disrespecting them, at least not until you had proof they were trying to kill you. Then you killed them before they got the chance to finish you off.

An easy smile spread across his face as he spoke. "I wish you a very merry Charismas." He paused, frowning slightly. "Do you celebrate Charismas Potter?"

I shook my head slightly, keeping my eyes on his forehead. The last thing I needed was for him to read my mind, or worse yet initiate a soul-gaze. "My family does and I enjoy the time with them, but I wouldn't say I personally celebrate it. Though I do enjoy the presents."

Quirrell chuckled, "Yes, presents are always nice." Maybe it the way he said it or his, almost deliberately, relaxed stance but I suddenly felt much more on edge. He toke a step towards me, an easy smile on his face, and I nearly bolted. Only just managing to stop myself. "I especially like unexpected gifts, ones that seem to come out of nowhere. Those are the _best_."

My voice shook slightly as I responded. "Y-yeah surprise presents are the best." Screw it, he gets any closer and I'm throwing a reducto and jumping out the window.

He tilted his head slightly and opened his mouth before pausing and looking around. "Well I really must be going Miss Potter, do have a good break." With that he started walking away.

I don't know what possessed me to speak up but I did. "I hope you have a good holiday to Professor."

He was about to turn the corner when he responded. "Ohh, I _will_," before he started laughing, a big happy belly laugh that echoed down the corridor even as he moved out of sight.

Well shit, that's not ominous at all. So much for enjoying my break from school.

I sighed and started hurrying towards Ravenclaw, only to run into Dumbledore as I rounded the corner, and when I say I ran into, I mean ran into. I smacked into him and bounced off and onto the floor.

Dumbledore smiled kindly as he helped me up. "In a rush Miss Potter?"

I smiled. "No, just didn't want to make Hermione wait too long for me"

Dumbledore nodded. "I see, I see, well I'm glad I could _run_ into you," His eyes were twinkling. "I was hoping to catch you before you left, I wanted to give you something." He reached into his robes, but before he could bring it out I spoke up hopefully.

"Lemon drops?" I may be getting addicted to the damn things, but they were really good.

He chuckled, "No, but you may certainly have some if you like." He pulled out a handkerchief, "This is a portkey," He paused a moment before asking. "Do you know what a portkey is Miss Potter?"

I blinked before responding. "Yes, they're magic items that allow people to teleport from one location to another. Without having to travel the intervening distance."

"Not quite, you still travel the entire way but you do it so quickly it's almost like taking a step and traveling a hundred miles in one go. Useful isn't it?" I nodded dutifully, I hadn't done much research on magical transportation but that sounded about right from what I remembered. "I want you to keep this with you while your away, ok?" He handed it to me.

I took a moment to examine it before putting it in my pocket. "Is there a reason I need to carry it around?"

"Hopefully not, but if you should find yourself alone and you think you are in danger, as you did when the Red Court vampire cornered you, I want you to grip it tightly and say 'Mints' and you will find yourself in my office." Dumbledore said gravely.

I nodded. "But, I thought that you said the red court wouldn't be bothering me?" Was there something I needed to know? Was the red court going to try something?

"I expect no further trouble from the Red court, but just in case something happens, you will have a way to safety. Alright?" Dumbledore seemed very serious, well it wouldn't hurt to have escape ready to go, could it?

"I promise, I'll keep it with me Professor."

"Thank you my dear, it will set my old hart at ease to know you have it with you. You wanted some lemon drops, didn't you?" He reached into his robes and pulled out a small bag before tossing it to me. Opining it I found it full of lemon drops. "Don't eat it all in one setting, ok?" At my eager nod he chuckled and walked off.

After tucking away my new treats I, finally, got my things and made my way to the train.

**888**

The train ride was relaxing, Pansy and I spent it playing exploding snap, followed by chess and when that lost its appeal we read. Hermione of course had read the whole trip. The train ride was over almost before we knew it.

As we got off the train Hermione saw her parents and started dragging us over to them. Hermione's father had black hair and clean shave, Ms. Granger was like an older copy of Hermione. As Hermione pulled us towards her parents traded amused glances before Mr. Granger spoke up.

"You must be Hermione's friends."

I nodded and Pansy spoke up. "Yes sir, I'm Pansy and this is Alex. It's nice to meet you."

"How are you enjoying Hogwarts? Learn anything interesting?" Ms. Granger asked.

Pansy and Hermione traded uneasy glances, obviously remembering the mirror, so I spoke up before the Grangers could comment. "Oh, it's been grand. Lots of fun, and books" I glanced slyly at Hermione's bag that was filled with more books than it was clothes. "_Lots_ of books."

The Grangers laughed at Hermione's blush, Mr. Granger cleared his throat, "Well it nice to meet you two, but we have to be going." Hermione gave Pansy and I hugs before they left.

"So who's picking you up?" I asked Pansy as we watched the Grangers leave.

"No one, I'll be taking the Knight Bus home." Pansy replied. I frowned slightly, eleven years old seemed a little young to be riding around the country by yourself. Pansy must have seen something in my face because she started to reassure me. "I'll be fine, I just go to one of its stops and the bus will drop me off right in front of Parkinson manner."

"Ok, well, have a good break." I said giving her a hug. With that I made my way towards out of Platform 9 ¾. Once I made it to the muggle side I started looking around for Aunt Petunia. She had said to meet her by the entrance, but I didn't see her. I spent enough time looking for her that I was starting to get nervous.

Had she forgotten I was coming home for Christmas? One of the station guards was giving me a look, I sighed and was about to go ask him for help contacting Aunt Petunia.

When something slammed into me and nearly throw me off my feet. I was about to draw my wand when I realized what, or rather who, it was.

"Alex!" Dudley shouted happily, hugging me tightly and swinging me back and forth.

"Dudley!" I shouted squeezing him tightly. Some pressure I hadn't realized was there eased. "Dudley," I whispered softly before pulling back to get a look at him. He had chocolate smudges all around his mouth. Guess I know why they were late. "You got something right here." I indicated towards his mouth.

Dudley blinked before grinning. "I had mom get us some ice cream!"

I raised an eyebrow. "And how much is left for me?"

He flushed indignantly, "All of it."

I looked over his shoulder to see Aunt Petunia walking up carrying an ice cream cone. I smiled and ran over to give her a hug. "Aunt Petunia!" her hands were full but she still managed to pat my back.

"It's good to see you Alex." She said. "But, lets get the car shall we?" I nodded and got my things before hurrying after her.

**888**

Christmas in the Drusley household was always a treat. The house was done up in the best decorations, enough lights to blind unwary passersby and at least four snow men, all in holiday colors. The tree was always perfectly decorated, with ornaments and garlands and topped with a golden star that Dudley had made in his first year of school.

But the best part was undoubtedly the food. Aunt Petunia and I spent all day getting Christmas dinner ready. Cookies, muffins, rolls, turkey, ham, sausages. We made it all, and made it to exacting standards.

Dudley and Vernon would often come into the kitchen to try and take some before it was time for and it was something of a game for us to kick them out before they could get any. I often slip Dudley some, if only to hear Vernon grumble when he noticed Dudley eating.

Most Christmas dinners we would be hosting one of Vernon's work friends, usually Mister Jenson, or Marge, but this year it was just us. Marge was in Barbados with her new boyfriend, the poor fool, and Mister Jenson was apparently to busy getting things ready for his costume ball.

"Why is Mister Jenson having a ball?" I asked Aunt Petunia, as I passed her the potatoes, he had never had one before. At least not that I was aware.

"Mister Jenson is celebrating his promotion to CEO of Grunnings." She answered. "He even sent an invitation, all done up in gold embroidery. Very fancy."

"Did you already pick out my costume?" I asked.

Aunt Petunia nodded. "I thought you might like to go as that Revan knight from Star Wars you like. I picked up your costume last month."

Dudley looked up from his plate. "I helped mom pick it out, it looks awesome."

"Cool," I was actually excited. Going to a big event like this, dressed as a badass like Revan, sounded like a lot of fun.

"And you will both be on your best behavior, is that understood?" Vernon said, holding his fork threateningly in our direction. "The last thing we need is the two of you embarrassing us in front Mr. Jenson or his guests."

Dudley and I exchanged exasperated looks but answered as he expected. "Yes sir." "Of course dad."

Grumbling Vernon returned to his plate. "Good, good." Whatever else you can say about him he never let good food go to waste, and my food was _always_ good.

It wasn't long before we finished dinner, thou it was a while after that that we felt able to actually move away from the table.

**888**

Aunt Petunia and I were cleaning up after dinner, Vernon and Dudley had already gone to bed. Aunt Petunia was washing the table when she looked up at me and asked.

"So how are you liking Hogwarts?" Her voice was deliberately casual.

I finished cleaning the plate I was working on before answering. "It's, been interesting. Fun and I've made friends."

"Pansy and Hermione, right?" She asked, obviously remembering my letters. I nodded. "You're being safe right?"

I picked up another plate and started cleaning it thinking on my time at Hogwarts. The troll, the death balls…the mirror. "Yeah I've stayed safe." I barely managed to keep the guilt out of my voice, but better she not know just how bad things had gotten. She would only worry and it wasn't like she could keep me safe, so lying was my best option under the circumstances.

Unfortunately I'm a horrible liar, I can mislead and I can pretend ignorance, but out right lying was nearly impossible because whenever I felt I was getting away with something I started smiling and Aunt Petunia could always tell when I tried to suppress my reaction.

Aunt Petunia sighed and sat down heavily at the table. "Please don't lie to me."

I kept washing the plate. "I'm not." Damn guilt smile.

"Put that plate down and come sit with me." She said. I sighed and dried it off, it was the last one anyway. "Now be honest, are you being safe?" Aunt Petunia was looking me right in the eyes as I sat down.

"Hogwarts is very safe," I said. Aunt Petunia frowned, so I continued. "Most of the time."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, that for the most part it's very safe," If one ignored the stairs. "As long as you don't go out of your way to get into trouble."

"And you don't go out of your way to get into trouble, right?" She was glaring as she said it.

"No!" I hastily denied, the mirror didn't count. I'd thought it was safe.

"So why do I get the feeling your lying to me?" Aunt Petunia did _not_ sound happy.

I cringed slightly. "I'm not, I just don't want you to worry."

"And why would I worry if you're not lying to me?" She didn't sound angry just sad, which was worse.

I sighed running my hands through my hair. "I'm, look Hogwarts can be dangerous but I am doing my best to stay out of trouble. I promise." Aunt Petunia gave me an assessing look before sighing and coming over to giving me a hug.

"At least promise me you'll keep your knife with you." I stiffened, she knew? "Did you really think I didn't know Vernon had gotten you one? Or that he had shown you how to use it? Who do you think told him to show you?"

"You?" Vernon was weird, for the most part he ignored me except when he showed me how to use a knife. I didn't know how he knew or why he showed me but it was the one thing that we did together that I actually enjoyed. But I honestly didn't think Aunt Petunia knew. Though looking back it was obvious she knew something because she never asked why I kept coming home with all those cuts.

She nodded, "Yes, me."

"Why?" Because teaching a kid how to use knifes was _not_ normal.

"I thought it would help the two of you bond. That didn't work as well as I would have wanted, but also because I knew you would be going back to the magical world and I wanted to know that you could defend yourself."

"Oh." I said softly. I started returning her hug. "Thank you."

She nodded before pulling away. "Now since you tried to lie to me you can finish cleaning up." With that she left.

I sighed and got to work, thankfully most of the cleaning had already been done. After I finished cleaning up I dragged myself up the stairs to my room, only to see a small flock of owls waiting for me.

"Ughh." I groaned, I was tired dammit. "One moment please." I swear to god the owls started glaring at me. How long had they been waiting for me?

I beat a hasty retreat and went down stairs to get some of the left overs. Grabbing a tuber-wear container full of ham I made my way back upstairs, passing Dudley on his way to the bathroom.

"_I'm_ not even hungry yet, how are you?" Dudley asked, actually looking mildly nauseous at the thought of eating anything more.

"It's for the owls." I said, as if that explained anything.

"Oh," Dudley nodded and finished making his way to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Through the door I heard. "Wait, what owls?" but I was already closing my door behind me, the open container of ham held in front of me to ward off angry avains.

After removing their packages and feeding them the owls left. Leaving me with a small pile of gifts, mostly candy from my acquaintances at Hogwarts. Most of whom I had sent candy, or other small things to. Hermione had sent me a new fountain pen, which was nice. Mine had been getting a little worn.

I suppressed a gasp as I opened Pansy's gift. Three silver throwing knifes, with what looked like runes on the hilt. There was a note inside the box.

_I noticed you had a knife and I thought you might like these._

_Your friend, Pansy_

_P.S- If you put a drop of blood on the hilt it will return to you after you throw it. Cool huh?_

I shook my head, of course Pansy would get me knifes for Christmas. Looking at them I decided to test them. Grabbing one of them I pricked my finger and bled on each of the hilts, the ruins flashed red after absorbing the blood before dimming.

Looking at my dart board I flicked the knife at it, hitting just a bit off center. "Rusty." I held out my hand and said, "Come." And it did return to my hand in one smooth motion. "Cool!" I did that a few times before trying to summon it without calling it. It took me nearly ten tries but I was able to do it. "So cool." Smiling I put them away.

I changed for bed and pulled the covers back only to notice another package at the foot of my bed. There was a note on top, written in elegant script.

_I return to you that which is rightfully yours. _

I frowned, why did that sound familiar? I sighed and opened it to find nothing? Turning the box over out came a shimmering cloak. I froze as I watched it hit the bed was that the invisibility cloak?


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

**Death's Flag**

_Pansy_

The trip to Parkinson Manor was too short for my liking, the blurring landscape was a calming influence. One I would need in the coming days.

I stepped off the bus and took in my surroundings. Parkinson Manor was situated in the middle of small forest, well the muggles thought it was small in actuality it was over two full square miles. The forest was once a peaceful place, one in which a child could safely play with no fear. That was before Mother had taken residence.

Long gone now, but her presence still lingered, tainting the land. Making it dangerous for even a fully trained wizard to explore. There was nothing living to be found in these woods, the once thriving forest population had either left, died or worse.

Father, nearly unhinged from his time with Mother, had had to completely take down the wards and purify the ward stones before we could even leave the grounds immediately surrounding the manor. Given that before then the wards had stood unmolested for nearly seven generations and that he had to care for me, only a few minutes old at the time, the process was difficult in the extreme. Even then, had he not paid Gringotts to make a safe passage from the Manor to the road we may well still be trapped there.

I had made my way up the perfectly preserved cobble stone path that connected the manor to the rest of the world. Taking special note of the marble columns that kept the forest from reclaiming the path. As always they were in mint condition, say what you will about Gringotts goblins but they built well and they always kept their word.

I sighed, I was stalling. I made sure my suppressers were in working order before I stepped through the ward line. If they had stopped working, even for a second at any time during my visit and Mother's blood came to the fore, the wards would kill me, as surely as the day dawns. They were, thankfully, in perfect working order.

Parkinson Manor was, in spite of the trials it had withstood, still a sight to behold. It was a made of a reddish brown brick and had a blue trim that went together in manner most pleasing to the eye. None of this held my attention though as I made my way inside, no what held my interest was the darkened hall. There was always light shining in Parkinson Manor, _always_. So why were none of the torches lit?

I found my answer as I entered. Father was spiraled on the floor between the dining room and the front room. An intense feeling of fear lingered about him. Rushing over I sighed in relief when I saw his chest moving.

"Trammy." I called, when the house-elf appeared I continued. "Why are fires out and _why_ is Father not in his bed?" Father never slept at night, he always said evil came out at night and he would not be caught sleeping should it make an appearance. He should still be in bed not comatose on the floor.

Trammy rung her hands nervously, her bulbous eyes wide in apprehension. "Master had one of his fits, he did. Made Trammy put out fires and leave. Oh, Trammy is sorry mistress, Trammy wanted to help master but he made me leave. Trammy is so sorry!"

I repressed my anger at her, if Father had given her an order she had no choice but to follow it and I could feel her worried-anxiety. If she could have helped she would have. "It's ok Trammy, just put father in bed and make some soup." Trammy nodded snapping her fingers and disappeared along with Father.

I took a moment to compose myself before making my way to Fathers room. He was sleeping on his canopy bed, it made him look so small. I sat in a chair by the bed, and watched him for a while. Reaching out I brushed a bit of hair from his face before leaning back in my chair and taking in the room.

The bed took up much of the room, leaving little room for anything else and save for my chair and a bed side table it was the only piece of furniture in the room. The rest of the room, the floor, walls and ceiling were covered in wards. Each of them hand carved by Father in his moments of sanity.

The only picture in the room was one of Grandmother and Father just after he graduated from Hogwarts. He looked so happy in the photos, so vibrant. He held himself as if he were ready to take on the world. To make his mark and overcome any obstacles in his way. Comparing Father to the man in the photos I could hardly see a resemblance.

The man before me was gaunt, and sickly. He looked as if he were near his fourth century, as opposed to the forty years he actually lived. I grit my teeth, if it hadn't been for _that bastard_ of a dark lord, Father would still be healthy. He would still be happy and he…

"Careful that's an antique, my great-grandfather made that for great-grandmother as a present." Father said softly. Concern-worry-love and buried so deeply I almost missed it, fear. I came back to myself and saw that I had been gripping the armrests so hard I had left hand prints in the wood.

Blushing I cast the repairing charm on the chair. "Sorry, Father."

He laughed, a low rasping thing. "It's quite alright."

"Father?"

"Yes, Pansy?" He asked.

"Why were you out of bed?" I didn't want to ask. He hated it when I mentioned his episodes, but if he was sleepwalking again it meant I would have to call a healer.

Father smiled. "I wanted to greet you first thing when you got home." He coughed, wheezing slightly but thankfully it passed quickly. I handed him his water, and set it back on the table once he had had his fill. "It seems I should have waited for you to come see me instead." Sadness-regret-mild resentment.

I didn't let his emotions bother me, I had a lot of practice at placing what they meant. The sadness-regret was at his inability to greet me properly and the resentment that was aimed at the world in general, not at me. Or at least not all of it was aimed at me.

I leaned forward and gave him a hug. "I'm happy to see you, no matter where it is."

He patted me on the back, after sat back in my chair he continued. "How has your time at Hogwarts treated you?" Curiosity.

I smiled happily. "It's been fun, I've made loads of useful contacts." Contacts were the bread and butter of every Slytherin. You couldn't accomplish your ambitions without them, it wasn't what you knew it was who you knew.

"Any friends?" Anticipation-worry.

"Yes two, the-girl-who-lived and her muggle born friend Hermione Granger." I felt his reaction before he spoke.

Anger-humiliation-disgust. "The-girl-who, you made friends with our lord's enemy!"

"Your lord, not mine." Not after what he did to you.

His anger was white hot after that comment but drained away in the face of another coughing fit. After I helped him drink some more water he spoke. "I know why you're angry with him but my health is not his fault, it's _her_ fault." Regret-fear.

"She wouldn't have been able to get you if it hadn't been for him!" I shouted, this wasn't the first time we had had this argument and I doubted it would be the last. In spite of everything he was still loyal to that monster and I would never forgive him for what he did to my father.

He sighed and changed the subject. "Do you at least think she will be useful when the time comes?" At my nod I felt his sharp relief. I explained our misadventure with the troll. "She froze the troll while it was in the lake? Amazing!" He shook his head in wonder.

I nodded. "He was completely frozen and most of the lake surrounding him was turned into solid ice." I was still impressed with Alex's spell. Water, practically moving water as in lakes or rivers, grounded magic draining it away before most spells could be completed. To freeze the troll and that much of the lake with the water draining away her magic as she cast it, and as a first year, was incredible. Most importantly, at least as far a father was concerned, was that it meant that Alex might just be strong enough to help me when Mother's blood fully manifested.

It could be argued that I was using Alex for her potential use to me, and that would be true but it wouldn't be the whole truth. I had need of her and she would be there for me, even just knowing her for such a short time I knew she would stand by her friends and when the time came that she would need my help I would be there for her. After all, that is what friends do.

"Potter I can understand, but a mud-muggle born?" Distaste colored his tone.

I rolled my eyes, "They were a package deal, and Potter had already befriended Granger. Besides the girl devoured books like most people do air. She will be useful when the time comes." I half expected Grainger to be better read than Dumbledore by the time she finished Hogwarts, at least if we kept using the Room's library.

Father nodded in surrender, trusting my judgment. "I hope you've been keeping up with your training."

I frowned at him. "Of course I've been keeping up. I know how important it is."

"Good, because tomorrow you're going to show me."

"Father you're in no condition to be out of bed. Let alone training me!"

Determination-glee? "I won't be training you, the house-elves will." That explained the glee. Training with father was trying enough, he may not be able to move much but he had set the dueling room up to challenge the best fighters the Death Eaters had to offer, and he'd improved it since then. But training with the elves, Trammy Tilda and Lomer, was an exercise in futility. They were too fast to hit, always popping up out of nowhere and hitting me when I least expected it.

My smile was more of a grimace when I responded. "Joy."

Father laughed softly, his joy shining bright. At least one of us would enjoy tomorrow.

**888**

_Alex_

I was frozen, staring at where the invisibility cloak had landed. I held myself still for a long moment, but when nothing happened I slowly relaxed. Keeping an eye on the bed I made my way over the closet and grabbed a hanger. I made my way back to the bed and started poking the part of the bed where the invisibility cloak had landed. Before my eyes part of the hanger disappeared.

Well I guess that answers that, it is an invisibility cloak and judging by the note, it's _the_ invisibility cloak.

"But that's impossible, isn't it?" Every time I watch a movie or read a book where someone says 'that's impossible', even though the supposedly impossible thing is in fact happening right in front of them, it would annoy the hell out of me. Now I knew how they felt, this should be impossible.

I had taken Hermione's advice and tried to research the ritual that mom had done. Even though I couldn't find anything on that ritual in particular I had found information on rituals that resembled it. Specifically sacrificial rituals, in them the person would barter with a spirit of power, a god or demon, and in exchange for something, sometimes blood, sometimes your first born child or a service the spirit would grant you a boon.

The problem with bargaining with anything supernatural is that they were inevitably older and more powerful than you and by summoning them they knew you were desperate. They knew how to work a deal so that they got a better agreement than you. The most well-known deals of this type were with the Fay, but it could be with anything powerful and nonhuman. Even if the ritual mom performed didn't actually summon anything that I could see, it was clear that she was sacrificing the cloak for something.

The invisibility cloak, as one of the Deathly Hollows, would be a prize well worth the protection of a mortal child. The problem with that theory is that there's no way that any entity would simply give up the cloak. Not unless they thought they could get something even better out of the deal. Hence my caution.

When prodding the cloak failed to cause any response I pulled the hanger back and thought for a moment. If this was _the_ cloak, and evidence was pointing in that direction, why would it be returned to me? I read the card again.

_I Return to you that which is rightfully yours_.

Maybe they didn't have a choice? If the cloak really did belong to me, maybe they, whoever they is, had to give it to me. Perhaps there was a time limit to how long they could have it? A clause that mom put in? A lot of powerful entities were bound by, or at least highly valued, their word and would keep to any bargain they made.

I poked the cloak again, no response. Well no choice now, the only way to find out if this was what I thought it was, was to _sense_ it. I was hesitant to try though, if this wasn't the cloak or if it was, it might overwhelm me like the horcruxe. The last thing I needed was Aunt Petunia coming in and finding me shaking on the floor empting my stomach.

But, unless I wanted to use the portkey to bring it to Dumbledore's office and let him deal with it, I didn't have much choice. I gave serious consideration to doing just that, but eventually I decided to just bite the bullet and try and sense it. When it came down to it I just didn't trust Dumbledore enough to go to him for anything less than imminent danger to my, or my families, life.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

The wards around the house pulsed with power, not the roaring avalanche of strength of Hogwarts, but a focused sense anticipation and hunger. Ready, willing and able to tear apart anything that threatened me. I smiled, feeling more at ease as the wards seemed to curl around me. Anything that made it past them was unlikely to be a threat to me.

I pushed through the warm feeling of the wards, and tried to sense the cloak. I reached out and felt nothing. I frowned, and strained my sense trying to get something.

In my necklace I felt my broom, wind and competition woven into its very being. On my desk I felt the knives that Pansy had given me, bound by blood their loyalty was mine. Their connection to me was obvious to my senses, three slender strings of magic had them attached to me. In my closet I felt my Hogwarts robes and their sizing charms, but I couldn't feel the cloak at all.

I opened my eyes slightly, holding on to my current state of mind, and sat on the bed. Almost, but not quite, touching the cloak. Still nothing. I pushed back my frustration, it would only make it harder to sense.

I came back to myself and frowned. After using the hanger to confirm that the cloak was still there, I went over to the desk and wrote a quick note explaining the situation to Aunt Petunia telling her to get Dumbledore if something happened to me. With that done, I centered myself and…

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I reached out and physically touched the cloak.

I knew I had made a mistake as soon as I touched it.

_**DEATH.**_

I fell onto the bed, and watched in horror as the cloak slithered up my arm. Inch after inch, my arm disappeared. Almost like it was swallowing me a bit at a time. I tried to move but my body seemed paralyzed. I wanted to scream, but couldn't. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't and when it reached my head I wanted someone to save me, but no one came.

_Beat. _

It sounds crazy, but it took a while for me to realize I wasn't dead. When I finally calmed down enough to think I took stock. I was laying on my bed, I was invisible, and most importantly I was alive.

Wait, invisible? As soon I thought that, I could feel the cloak.

Any doubts I harbored about this being _The_ Invisibility cloak, were dashed. It wasn't hot, and despite the nearly frigid temperature I kept the room at, it wasn't cold. If I hadn't had it on me I wouldn't have believed it was there at all.

It felt old, the Peverell legend was only a few thousand years old, this cloak was much older. More than that was a feeling of _not there_ that I just couldn't put into words. It also felt like home, which was a little worrying but not as much as you'd think once I thought about it.

The invisibility cloak had been passed down the Potter family for generations, since before it was the Potter family. It made sense that it had become accustomed to us, or more likely we had become accustomed to it.

I pushed myself up and made my way over to my closet, on the front of the closet door hung a full length mirror. In it I could see my room's reflection, but no sign of me.

The cloak didn't hang on me, I wasn't wearing it, it was more like it was a second layer of skin that somehow covered my clothes and my wand. If I wasn't concentrating on it I couldn't even feel it.

Speaking of my wand, with a practiced twitch of my arm I sent my wand into my hand. At no point was it stopped or slowed by the cloak and most interestingly it was still invisible.

"So cool." This obviously wasn't the cloak I remembered reading about in my last life, it was much better.

I was tempted to cast a spell, just to see if I could through the cloak, but I refrained. As much as I wanted to, casting a spell while I was underage in a muggle neighborhood, unless I was in danger, would land me in _so_ much hot water.

I looked at the clock on the wall, two am. That couldn't be right, I had sent the last of the owls away just after midnight. Just how long did I spend trying to sense the cloak?

I sighed, it wasn't important. Right now all I needed to do was get to bed, I didn't have anything to do tomorrow until the ball, but Aunt Petunia didn't like anyone sleeping past eleven. Even during long breaks, like summer or winter.

So with reluctance, I started pulling off the cloak. I came off easily enough, but I was hesitant to part with it. So I folded it up and put it in my pocket, climbed into bed and went to sleep.

**888**

I like to sleep with the room completely dark. As such I have the curtains fully drawn and I sleep with a small blanket over my head to further cut down on the chances of light getting in my eyes. So when I felt light start hitting my face I knew someone was in my room. Still half asleep I carefully drew my wand and still feigning sleep I rolled over to get a better look at whoever was in my room.

Cracking one eye slightly, I relaxed when I saw it was just Dudley before stiffing when I saw him reading the note I had left on the desk. Shit.

I sat up and stretched, trying to seem completely unconcerned. "Morning Dudley."

I stifled a smile at his abrupt start, especially when the note slipped from his fingers. "A-Alex, I, uh, wanted to see if you were up?" his stuttering tone made it a question. The look on his face was that of the proverbial hand in the cookie jar.

I smiled easily. "Well I am now, was there something you wanted?"

He smiled suddenly, lighting up the room with his innocent joy. "It's snowing!"

I laughed, "It usually does that during winter."

My teasing flew right past him. "Yeah but it's like a meter deep," his smile turned devious, "Perfect time to get Piers back."

I raised my brow curiously, "Oh? What's Piers done now?" Piers was something of the neighborhood bully. He enjoyed picking on the other kids, and Dudley in particular. Which was odd given that Piers was half Dudley's size, and their fights almost always ended with Dudley as the victor.

Come to think of it, Piers only started in on Dudley after he tried to bully me and Dudley performed a flying tackle on him. Piers got detention and Dudley got suspended but when Aunt Petunia found out why he tackled Piers he got an extra piece of cake with dinner.

Dudley rolled up his sleeve, I felt my eyes narrow when I saw the bruise on his upper arm. "How'd that happen?"

"Piers used a stick." Given that satisfied way he said it, he knew he had my full attention.

"Why did Piers use a stick?" I asked.

"Me and Joey were sword fighting and Piers jumped us." When I didn't respond he continued. "Joey ran and Piers tried to get me to fight him, but I just walked away."

Bullshit. "Really? You just walked away?"

"Really," At my unimpressed stare he changed his story. "Well, I did, at least at first. But them he called mom a slag, and I charged him."

"Were you able to get him?"

"No," Dudley shook his head, clearly annoyed. "He was too fast, but after that he ran."

"So he got the drop on you and he called Aunty a slag." Dudley nodded. "Does Aunt Petunia know?" He shook his head. "Well then I think we owe Piers some pay back."

Dudley nodded, "And Drusleys always pay their debts." I nodded in agreement. With that Dudley left so I could get dressed. Sighing I went over to the desk and picked up the note and tore it into little pieces before dumping it in the trash. After getting dressed Dudley and I went out to rain snowy hell on Piers.

**888**

I watched the road blur as we drove to Mr. Jenson's house. The Ball didn't start until nearly nine but we had to leave early to avoid traffic and because Mr. Jenson's house on the outskirts of a small town on the other side of London. As such the sun was almost completely set, illuminating the sky in a beautiful amalgam of colors.

When the sun finally set, we still had nearly an hour before we would made it to our destination. So I decided to try and get some meditation done, Dudley was consumed in his new Gameboy, Vernon and Aunt Petunia were busy navigating so it was the perfect time.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

The Mirror of Erised, despite of the trauma it had caused did help. I could feel how close I was to a breakthrough. Another few weeks at most and I was sure I would finally find my mindscape.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I focused on that thought as we made our way to Mr. Jenson's house. My breathing regular and controlled.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I lost track of time as I meditated. My mind at ease and my body completely relaxed, appearing to the whole world as if I were simply asleep.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

After an indeterminate amount of time I started to come back to myself and I started reaching out with my senses. A habit I had developed at Hogwarts to make sure no one would surprise me after a meditation session.

I was about to reel my senses in when we crossed a ward line. New, but powerful and primal.

"Were here." Aunt Petunia said as we drove up a long drive surrounded on all sides by forest. Oh, that's not good, that's not good at all.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: So I got really into the story last night and got most of this out. So early chapter. For this chapter I'm really wanting some feedback. So ****please review/comment.**

**AN2: Also graphic violence ahead. Read at your own risk.**

**Chapter 12:**

**Primal Dance **

The Jensen's were a magical family? How didn't I know? I mean before I got my wand sensing was a lot more difficult. I'd had to mediate to get a good feel of the sounding magic. So it wasn't like I ever had the chance to try and sense the Jensen's but, still, they had been coming over for years and I never knew? The thought sent shivers down my spine.

I nearly froze as an even more horrifying thought occurred to me.

"Aunt Petunia can I see the invitation?" I asked, trying to mask my fear, as we got in the line of cars leading to the front entrance.

"Sure dear, just be careful. We need it to get in." Aunt Petunia said, looking quite nice in her Princess Leia costume. (The 'you're my only hope' one. Pervs.)

With a muttered assurance I took the invitation in hand. Pushing my helmet up, I started reading. "We cordially invite the Drusley family to…" No mention was made of me being invited to the ball.

Bad, very bad.

If the Jenson's were magical, and it seemed like they were, then showing up at their home without an invitation was frowned upon, to say the least. With an invitation I would be a guest, and as such, I would be protected.

Guest Rights, or the Laws of Hospitality, were sacred in the supernatural community. If you were a guest the host would be bound to see to your wellbeing. They would offer you no threat or allow any harm to come to you while you were their guest. The protection this offered was by no means full proof, but they were close.

Perhaps most importantly every supernatural power, from the lowly fairy to the heavyweights like the White Council, abided by them. They were the cornerstone on which all magical cooperation depended.

Defense class spent an entire week going over guest rights. How they were to be used, what you were protected from while under them and what you were required to provide to those who were your guests.

Without a proper invitation it might well be safer for me to try walking home.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Dudley, in his Darth Vader costume, opened my door and offered his hand to help me down. While I was distracted, we had made it to the front of the line and an usher was waiting to take our car.

Once out we made our way up the stairs where Vernon, dressed quit dapperly as Han Solo, greeted Mr. Jenson. Who was doing a disturbingly realistic impersonation of Alucard.

The urge to run screaming was nearly overwhelming.

"Adam, it's good to see you." Vernon said, smiled widely while shaking Mr. Jenson's hand.

"Vernon, Petunia nice costumes." Mr. Jenson said, before turning to Dudley and I. "And who are the two of you supposed to be?"

"I'm Darth Vader." Dudley piped up happily.

When he turned to look at me, I spoke up my voice only shaking slightly. "R-Revan."

Mr. Jenson looked at me seriously for a moment before bowing and saying. "I am honored to have the lady Revan as my guest for the night." He winked at me as he straightened.

With that we were ushered inside.

**888**

Balls, or any big social gathering really, aren't really my thing. I would much prefer staying home and reading or playing videogames, but if I had to go out a small group of close friends would be my preference. Still I had to admit if I had to a big party in the future I would want the Jensen's to host it. They know how to throw a party.

There was red and white drapery strewn across the walls in tasteful designs, three chandeliers, an actual ballroom, a live band, and a wait staff that seemed to show up just as your drink needed refilling and delicious food. Dear Merlin the _food_.

I cook a mean meal, and Hogwarts food comes as a close second to my best work, but the chefs that were on _fire_ tonight. I was thoroughly outclassed and I had no problem with it.

"Enjoying the refreshments are we?"

I cracked my eyes open and seeing Joel Jenson, I quickly finished off the mini burger I had been eating.

"_Yes_." My voice convened just how much I was loving the food.

Joel crack a smile, which looked odd with one of his eyes covered in an eye patch. It did however go well with the rest of his outfit, a green army uniform, combat boots a big hat with a griffin pendant on it and a red scarf. Hello Pip.

"I'll let the cooks know that you're pleased with their work." Joel said.

"Please do." I said as Joel moved to sit by me. We were in a room just off the main ballroom. It was filled with games, video and otherwise, and its own small buffet. I had claimed a spot near the end where the burgers rested.

"Dad wanted me to talk to you." I raised my brow inquiringly. "He said, oh how did he phrase it." He snapped his fingers. "Ah right. He said, 'That no deception was meant, nor is any harm meant by us to you or yours. You are a guest in our home and a friend.'"

I felt my eyebrows climb as he spoke, by the time he was finished they were nearly to my hair line. "Formal." I honestly didn't know how to respond to that.

Joel blushed. "That's how he said I should say it. Dad said politeness in the supernatural world is important."

I nodded. "Life and death." Well if I had any doubts about the Jenson's being more than human they were laid to rest.

Joel's brow furred. "I'm still getting used to it, I mean two years ago I thought this stuff was all make believe and now I'm living it." I felt a pang of sympathy, I feel you dude, I really do.

"Two years ago?" I asked.

He nodded. "We were on vacation in America and we were attacked by these wolves. They would have killed us if it weren't for…" He trailed off, lost in his memories.

"So werewolves?" I asked, carefully prodding him knowing that the experience was likely traumatic. There were multiple types of werewolves but there were only one kind that could change others into werewolves through infection. _Tier-Wechslers_, ironically they were native to Europe.

Tier-Wechslers were the stereotypical Hollywood werewolf. They had to change shape during the full moon and when they did they lost all control. They were much bigger than normal wolves when turned and they were known to have a half form. Part-man part-wolf all nightmare, their half form could bench-press a semi and out run one. For a short while, powerful they were but the half form had no stamina.

Joel nodded. "We were out camping," a practice I had never understood. Why would you leave your perfectly good home and pretend to be homeless for the weekend. "We were getting ready to go to sleep when they jumped out of the forest and started…" He shook his head. "Well it doesn't matter, what matters is that we were saved by the local pack. They had been hunting the rouge wolves and they got there just in time to save us."

Joel and I weren't close, I had always found him to entitled and he didn't much like me given that he was five years older than me, but to go through something like that, I shook my head and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

He smiled in thanks. "It's okay really, being a werewolf is kinda awesome and it made dad decide to settle down." Settle down? Mr. Jenson was already married. At my confused look he explained. "We need order, a routine and it's hard to have that when you're always traveling. So dad decided to make a bid for CEO, it still has some moving about but not as much." He grinned suddenly and said. "Besides, now I can do this."

He looked me straight in the eye and suddenly his blue eyes changed to a bright fierce yellow. I nearly fell out of my chair.

"Your face," Joel said laughing. "You should have seen your face."

I rolled my eyes, but laughed along. He may have scared me but it was better than the awkward tension that had been building between us.

"So your whole family was changed?" I asked.

Joel nodded. "Mom handled it great, she was the first one of us who manage to change without the full moon, and dad wasn't too far behind." He sounded proud as he continued. "I can do full wolf any time now. It took lots of practice, but its lots of fun to."

"Fun? I heard it was painful?" I asked. According to what I had read on Tier-Wechslers the transformation was very unpleasant.

Joel nodded. "The first few times it was very painful and during full moons it's always painful, but…" he trailed off thoughtfully before continuing, his voice soft. "It's a rush, the blood pumping in your veins as you run through the forest. The smells are so much clearer as a wolf and your hearing is so strong you can hear a pin drop from a kilometer away and the hunting, well, the hunting is much more visceral."

I listen spellbound as he spoke, it certainly sounded fun. I redoubled my determination to master Occlumency so I could start working on becoming an animagus.

He looked at me thoughtfully. "You know when I found out you were this famous witch I couldn't believe it." He laughed slightly pointing at me. "I mean this little slip of a girl stopping a Dark Lord. It sounded insane."

I glared at him, "Oh? And what so funny about me stopping him?" I mean I hadn't but I didn't like Joel's tone.

He shook his head consolingly. "I'm sorry, but come on I could beat you in fight even before I was a wolf." He raised a condescending eyebrow. "Now it wouldn't even be a fight."

I narrowed my eyes at him and, in my most dangerous voice said, "Careful little wolf, you may be big but my bites bigger."

He almost fell out of his chair he was laughing so hard. Maybe I need to work on my threats?

After he calmed down, he asked me if I would dance with him. I graciously accepted, if I happened to continually step on his toes during our time on the floor. Well, I'm sure the big bad wolf could take it.

**888**

The rest of the party passed quickly. Joel and I would alternate between dancing, bickering and the game room. When the time came for us to leave I was completely exhausted.

"You should come over during the summer. We could have a lot of fun." Joel's eyes were dancing as he spoke. He was under the impression that I had lost our little competition.

"Yeah, sure," My hand shot to my mouth to cover an absolutely enormous yawn. "I'll keep that in mind."

Joel waved goodbye as I got in the car. Dudley was already asleep in the back and Aunt Petunia was close to dropping in the front passenger seat. The only one who seemed to have any energy left was Vernon and even he seemed eager to get home.

Catching his eyes in the rearview mirror I asked. "You want me to stay up to help with the map?"

Vernon shook his head as we started down the drive. "I got it, you just get some sleep." His voice was gruff, but not unkind. Funny how I never noticed that before.

I nodded and closed my eyes, I was exhausted but I was never good at sleeping in the car. So I decided to meditate for a while.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

The party had been fun, more so than I had expected, but it still troubled me that I had never noticed that the Jenson's were werewolves. They were normal humans when I first met them but that was no excuse, I should have noticed some time since they turned. That I didn't meant I had to step up my game.

Voldemort, and who knew what else, was out there and wanted me dead. I needed to be more careful. Or else I would end up very dead.

Breath. Foc-

A laud popping sound wrenched me from my thoughts.

"Shit!" Vernon said voice strained, as he attempted to steer the suddenly tire-less car. I gripped my armrests as the car screeched down the road, sparks flying as the rims ground down on the asphalt.

Dudley started screaming I reached over to take his hand when the car careened off the road and into a tree. I was slammed into the seatbelt, no doubt bruising my ribs (again), and the air flew from my chest.

I gasped trying to fill my burning lungs. The only sound in the car as that of panicked breathing.

"Is everyone ok?" Vernon asked, voice rough as he started unstrapping himself. When no on responded he turned to look at Dudley and me. I nodded as best I could, finally get some air. Dudley was frozen stiff in shock but seemed fine otherwise.

"D-Dudley's fine, just scared." I rasped, finally grabbing Dudley's hand and giving it a squeeze. He didn't say anything but he did squeeze me back. "He's ok." I said again.

Vernon nodded and turned to Aunt Petunia, who had been silent since we crashed. "Pet are you ok?" When she didn't respond his voice turned urgent. "Pet? Pet? Pet talk to me!" Aunt Petunia's head lolled to the side, blood rushed out of a gash on her head.

No. Not Aunt Petunia, please not her. I can't lose any more family.

I can't.

"Aunt Petunia! Wake up!" I screamed, she had to be ok. She had to be.

Vernon reached over to feel her pulse. "She's just knocked silly. We just need to get her to the hospital."

"Mom?" Dudley said softly, his voice small and scared. That's right, I can't lose control. Dudley needs me. I lose control, he loses control.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and slowly released it. I did that again and once more until I thought I could speak without screaming. Only then did I unbuckle myself and scoot over to Dudley.

"She'll be fine D, you'll see." I put my arm over his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. Vernon gave me a nod as before pulling out his cellphone.

There was a sudden grinding screech as Aunt Petunia's door, which had opened slightly during the crash, was torn from its hinges. Before anyone could react she was pulled from the car by a dark shape. There were no lights on the road, we were still in the woods near the Jonson's house, so I couldn't make anything out when the shape snatched Aunt Petunia.

There was a moment of stunned silence as we all stared numbly unable to process what had just happened. Vernon was the first one to snap out of it. He threw open his door and leapt from the car slamming the door behind him before running around back and opening the trunk.

He came back around front tactical shovel in hand and shouted through the hole where a door used to be. "Stay in the car, take care of Dudley." He tossed me his cellphone. "Call 999 tell them what's happened." That done he ran off after Aunt Petunia.

He ran off to fight something that could tear through a car like it was tissue paper, with a shovel. With. A. Shovel.

I felt hysteria threating to overwhelm me, it may well have if Dudley hadn't spoken up.

"Alex?" He was looking at me, his entire continence screaming fear, but he was calm enough to talk. "Alex what do we do?" Dudley was terrified, but he was holding it together because he thought I knew what to do. I needed to hold it together, for Dudley.

For Dudley.

After taking a deep breath I removed my costume's gloves. On my left arm my new throwing knives and wand on the other the handkerchief portkey that Dumbledore had given me. I handed it to Dudley, he gave it a confused look. "Dudley say mints." He just looked confused. I grit my teeth and repeated myself. "Say mints!"

Dudley flinched, "M-mints?" He disappeared, no lights or smoke. Just there one moment and gone the next.

Perhaps the smart thing to do would have been to take the portkey with Dudley but I couldn't risk it. If Dumbledore wasn't in his office, if he was at the Ministry or God forbid the ICW, it could potently take him an hour to come save Aunt Petunia and Vernon. They would almost certainly be dead by then if I didn't do something.

I was _not_ losing anymore family.

I flipped open the cell only to drop it in disgust when I saw that it had died. Either the portkey had killed it or my emotions had cased my magic to fry it.

It was a common phenomenon with White Council wizards, but fairly rare with wanded wizards. Once we bonded with a wand we channeled almost all of our magic through it. That's why accidental magic was so rare after we got our wands.

The hysteria nearly overwhelmed me again but I pushed it down. No matter, I would just have to deal with this myself.

I retrieved and un-shrunk my broom before reaching into my costume and grabbed the invisibility cloak. As soon as I touched it the cloak shot up my arm and covered the rest of my body in less than a second.

After insuring the broom was also invisible, I hugged it close and carefully flew out the gaping hole in the front.

It was nearly a week until the next full moon but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, a rarity in Britain, so there was just enough light to navigate. If I took it slow.

I flew through the trees, limiting myself to a slow careful pace, trying to find something to lead me to the monsters that took my Aunt. It was the middle of winter and there was a thick layer of snow on the ground, I should have been able to find a trail to follow even if I was just following Vernon's tracks, but I saw nothing. Whether that was due to my complete lack of tracking ability or the lack of a trail, I didn't know.

Not far away I heard a strangled scream. Vernon.

Turning the broom I went in the direction of the scream. After a moment I flew into a clearing. There I saw two huge wolves circling Vernon. They wolves were at least twice the size of any natural wolves and as I watched one of them ran at Vernon. He turned just so and slashed it, drawing blood and sending it running off, only for the other one to come up behind him and leave a bloody cut in his side. I frowned, they were playing with him. That last hit could have easily been fatal.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw another wolf crouched, watching the fight. I turned to look at it and saw Aunt Petunia laying on the ground just a few feet from it. I couldn't tell if she was breathing from here. I grit my teeth against the despair that threatened to overwhelm me at the thought of Aunt Petunia dead.

I took a moment to insure that there was no one else in the clearing before flying up and behind the wolf. I considered using my wand, I didn't care if I got expelled for using magic outside of school, but magic was flashy and I needed to be quite and there was no guaranty that any of my spells would be enough to kill a wolf. Werewolves were, like trolls, notoriously magic resistant and the knives were sliver one of the few things they were weak to.

If the wolves fighting Vernon noticed me fighting the other one they could decide to just kill him and then come deal me. I could get away but Aunt Petunia couldn't.

Vernon had shown me how to use knives years ago, he spent a moth showing me the basics and I had practiced nearly every day since then, my time at Hogwarts notwithstanding. I would only get one shot at this, if I missed the wolves would kill Vernon and Aunt Petunia. I took a slow, silent breath. I could do this. I drew one of my knives and sighted the wolf below me. I timed the throw with my exhale.

The knife flew through the air and, weather through luck or skill or some magic of the knives themselves, hit home at the base of the wolf's skull killing it instantly. The wolf's body sat there a moment, not knowing it was dead, before falling forward silently. Looking as if it had simply decided to lay down.

I waited a moment to see if it would move, or if the other wolves would notice. They kept playing with Vernon, alternating turns to take runs at him. He was doing ok but he was slowing.

I looked away and hovered down to check Aunt Petunia's pulse. I almost froze when she started disappearing, before getting ahold of myself. It was just the cloak. I heard something behind me and turned to see what it was. That was the only thing that saved my life.

As I turned one of the wolves slammed into me. Propelling the both of us off my broom and onto the cold snow below. The snow cushioned me enough that I didn't lose my breath. I looked at the snarling wolf on top of me, jerking my head to the side when it lunged forward teeth bard and only just managed to avoid its jaws.

It pulled back for another go and I raised my arm in front me. The wolf clamped down hard, instantly breaking my arm. Thankfully the adrenalin kept me from feeling it, even better the wolf had managed to clamp it jaw on my wand holster which was also where I was keeping my knives. Offering me some protection from its teeth.

The wolf yanked its head back, twisting my arm and dislodging the wand holster sending it, and my knives, flying. Turning back towards me it lunged forward again.

Grasping, desperately trying to keep it from killing me, I felt something around its neck. I yanked it off, revealing a necklace of some sort, and suddenly I wasn't dealing with a wolf. It was a fully grown man who was still lunging forwards. His now human head slammed into my face breaking my nose.

We both lay there dazed, he recovered first. He sat up, still pining me. And growled. "You killed Dave!" He brought his arm back and slammed it down on my face. I saw stars, and my vision went blurry "I'll kill you!" he brought his arm back again. I didn't think I could take another hit like that.

I reached my arm out, not to stop him, I couldn't if I wanted to he was too big. No I reached out and summoned one of my knives. When its hilt hit my hand I gripped it tightly and, before he could bring his fist down again I slammed it into the soft muscle where the arm met the torso. He froze, after a long moment he fell off me.

I kept a tight grip on the knife an when he hit the ground, his mouth moving silently as blood spilled from it, and slit his throat. The first stab might have killed him but I wasn't taking any chances.

On my knees now I tried to breath, my chest ached. The wreck and getting tackled by a two hundred pound wolf must have broken something. I tried to stand and nearly fell over. Groaning, I decided not to try that again anytime soon.

I heard Vernon shout before falling. I forced my head up and saw Vernon laying on the ground, his shovel only a few feet from him, and the wolf he had been fighting was scanning the clearing its eyes passed me before coming snapping back in my direction.

I was still invisible but the cloak was almost soaked in blood and that wasn't invisible. Was that how the other wolf knew where I was? It let lose a triumphant howl and started running in my direction, it seemed unburdened by the only having one working front leg.

As it ran towards me I tried to think of something to do. Anything, to get me out of this and I came up empty.

My arm was broken and hanging uselessly by my side, at least one of my ribs was broken and I couldn't even stand. My wand was too far away for me to reach, even if I could move. My only weapon was a small throwing knife, with which I might be able to wound the wolf, I was out of options and my family was about to pay the price for being related to me.

My broken hand brushed the necklace I had pulled of the other wolf. my heart skipped a beat when I felt its magic.

Both to free my good hand and to slow it, I threw my knife at the wolf and grabbed the necklace. I shuddered as I felt its vial magic, primal and dark its only desire was to kill and dominate. It was a horrible thing one that would leave its mark on me no matter what I did. It could very well change me, make me a monster if I put it on.

I didn't hesitate as I slipped it over my head, after all I would do much worse to protect my family.

My broken ribs, my useless arm, my busted nose, none of that mattered after I pulled the necklace on because I had a new body now. One suited to killing.

I jumped out of the way as the other wolf pounced, evading her with ease.

I smirked, my body was powerful. My legs were strong, I could run for days and not feel the strain. My eyes were sharp, I could easily see the hilt of my silver claw sticking out of the other, weaker, wolf's already broken leg. My teeth were sharp and my jaw was strong enough to break bone. I may have been small, only the size of a normal wolf, but I was more than strong enough to show this bitch just who the alpha was.

I bared my teeth in threat, but stopped confused when the other wolf didn't respond at all. She was looking around in confusion. Were her senses really that bad?

I watched her for a moment before I realized I was still invisible. I bared my teeth again, this time in celebration. Perfect, this would make future hunts much easier.

I shot forward and clawed her side, springing away before she could even respond. I did it again, and again and again. After the fifth repeat I started getting board. Pathetic. She was no challenge at all.

I jumped on her and wrestled her to the ground, my jaws held tightly on her throat not tight enough to kill but more than enough for her to understand her position. I growled.

Submit!

She went limp and I relaxed my jaws and she stayed down showing me her soft underbelly. I howled in triumph. I was alpha.

"Hold." A voice interrupted my celebration. I turned to look at a small overweight human. "My, my, a first year Hogwarts student who was able to disable three hexan-wolves. Standards must have improved since I graduated."

I growled, and took a threating step forward. Forgetting that he could not see me. He must have guessed my meaning because he thrust a stick, a wand a small voice whispered, at me. I bared my teeth, if he thought I was afraid of a stick he was sorely mistaken. I would kill him as an example to other humans not to bother me. Not that it would stop them, humans were distressingly slow witted at times.

I would probably have to kill a dozen of them before they got the message. It would be fun, but first this one.

I tensed my legs to jump at him, he wasn't far and one lunge would be all it took to kill him, but when I went to move I couldn't. What was going one, I was perfectly healthy moving shouldn't be any problem.

The small fat human was laughing. "Your trying to attack me aren't you?" He laughed some more. Stupid fat thing, stop laughing and come closer so I can kill you. "Why don't you drop that invisibility spell?" Despite myself I teisted my head and gripped the cloak in my teeth and pulled it off.

I looked at him hatefully. I want to taste you blood, I would probably be able to taste all the McDonalds he ate. "You see I made that necklace, it is the necklace isn't it?" He shook his head. "It doesn't matter, because you see I made it and I made sure that I could control it. So anyone who wears it, is mine to command." I growled again, his to command? No. I was alpha, not some stupid fat human!

He looked at my bitch. "Isn't that right Elsa?" I looked at her was still on her back but her head was cocked in his direction. "Alex kill Elsa." No, she was mine, she was pack. You don't kill pack, what idiot killed pack? I growled, but I couldn't stop myself from walking over to her. "I want you to understand something Alex, I am your alpha, your master, your god. My word is your command and I command you to kill her." I fought it with all my might, but despite all my strength my body got closer and closer.

Elsa whined and the fat human laughed. "If you wanted to live you should have subdued her like I said. But no you idiots couldn't even do that right. First you grab the old muggle and then you lose to a child. No, you have long outlived your usefulness." My jaws clamped onto her neck. The fat man looked at me and grinned. "Glare all you want Alex, those pretty green eyes won't change my mind." I growled, I was going to kill him slowly. "Ki…" The other fat human, who had been laying on the ground, slammed a long sharp stick into the short fat human's neck. Taking the stupid one's head off.

"You leave my niece alone you bastard." The other fat human, no Vernon my Uncle, said. He turned to look at me. "Alex? Are you alright where's Dudley?"

I huffed. The pup was safe, I made sure of that before I came to save you.

I was about to go lay down, fighting the stupid fat man's magic was tiring, when I heard the war cry of a phoenix. It froze me in place, the pure white magic of the cry disrupting the necklaces enchantment, long enough for Fawkes to fly down and pull the necklace off me.

I fell to the ground, thankfully a short distance, and my vision swam. Fawkes started singing, my last thought before the song sent me to sleep was that it couldn't have been more than twenty minutes since I sent Dudley away.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

**Aftermath Part 1**

_Dumbledore_

It was nearly midnight when the wards in my office alerted me to a visitor. I had been at a Ministry function, Fudge had invited me specifically and in such a way that I was hard-pressed to decline. No matter how much I would have preferred to be in bed at such late hour. That the visitor had been able to get in at all meant that either they had permission, or that they had used one of my emergency portkeys.

Portkeys were some of the most useful magical items, as well as some of the most dangerous. Portkeys were very easy to disrupt and when disrupted, the consequences for their users where often fatal. The safest way to use a portkey was to have a preplanned rout for it to follow. So that unfortunate travelers didn't run into unexpected wards or unusual magical phenomenon.

Portkeys with an end destination, but not a preplanned starting location, could and often were extremely dangerous. I would not risk them at all if it were not for the unique ability of Hogwarts to seemingly pull any teleportation to itself safely.

As Headmaster of Hogwarts, I was the only one who could set a portkey to enter Hogwarts. This proved extremely useful in the last war as Order members who got in over their heads could use their portkeys to get to safety. Something that Tom's Death Eaters and the ministry were hesitant to try.

I quarried the wards in my office to see which portkey had been used. I frowned when I received the answer. Alex had used the portkey I had given her, but my wards reported that she was not in the office.

I quickly made my excuses and left the Ministry, utilizing the floo to get back to my office.

My frown deepened when, upon entering my office, a small boy screamed and ran away to hide behind my desk. I made my way to one of the chairs in front of my desk and calmly called out.

"If you open the bottom left drawer you will find a small collection of candy." After a moment of silence, I added. "You're welcome to get yourself some if you'd like." I could hear a small gasp as the boy opened the drawer. I smiled to myself, candy was a wonderful thing. If only others would accept them when I offered. Sadly people seemed to go out of their way to refuse my offers, particular the muggle-borns, except Alex. Odd that.

"You know you're the first person to accept my offer of candy in a while." In a ponderous voice I added. "Well except for Alex that is, she always accepts my candy."

A small head peaked out from behind my desk, and a voice garbled slightly from the candy asked. "You know Alex?"

"Oh yes she's one of my favorite students, here at Hogwarts. But I do believe she's on holiday with her family at the moment." Perhaps the boy had simply got ahold of her portkey and activated it by chance. Perhaps Tom would realize the error of his ways and repent. Perhaps, unlikely but perhaps, still what was the world without hope?

"Your one of her magic teachers?" I nodded at him as he slowly came out from behind the desk, holding a bag of candy in front of him as shield. At my nod he suddenly became much more animated. "Then you know magic and you can save her and mom!"

"If you can explain what happened I can certainly try."

The boy, Dudley if my memory served my correctly, nodded eagerly. "We were at a party at the Jenson's." that explained the Darth Vader costume. Wait, the Jensen's? Surely not the Marrok's new representatives? "We'd just left when our tiers got blown up! And then we ran into a tree, but before we could do anything something tore open Mom's door and dragged her away and then Dad ran off after her." he stopped to take a breath before continuing. "Alex gave me this hanky," He held up the portkey to show me exactly what he was talking about. "And told me to say mints." Thankfully the portkey was already at its set destination so nothing happened. "I felt like I was being thrown about every which way and then I was hear and then you showed up." By the end he was gasping for breath.

I stood suddenly and went over to the fire place. After I threw a pinch of floo powder in it. "Professor McGonagall's office." I stuck my head in and saw Minnie at her desk grading papers.

"Albus, it's quite late you know." When she saw my expression she stiffened. "What's the matter?"

"Could you come to my office?" At her nod I backed away from the fire place.

"Blimey! Magic people are crazy." Dudley said. "Sticking your head in a fire place of all things." I smiled slightly.

When Minnie flooed in, I said. "Can you watch mister Drusley while I go fetch his Mother and Miss Potter? It seems they've gotten themselves into a bit of trouble."

A concerned look came over her face, but she nodded determinedly. Oh, Minnie always so brave in the face of adversity. What would I do without you? When she started blushing I realized I may have said that out loud.

Ignoring that for now I reached out to Fawkes, who had been resting on his roost, and he flew to me and landed on my out stretched arm. "I need to get to Miss Potter quickly. Can you take me to her?" Fawkes let out an affirmative caw and we were off.

**DDD**

I arrived in a clearing in the woods, just in time to see Mr. Drusley remove someone's head. His time in the muggle military served him well, it seems.

Mr. Drusley dropped his shovel, and turned to look at a pair of wolves. Judging by the feel of the magic surrounding them, they had to werewolves of some sort. "Alex? Are you alright where's Dudley?"

Alex? There is no way that even the most virulent of Tier-Wechslers could have forced a change in the short time since young mister Drusley had made it to my office and unless Miss Potter had managed to become an animagus without me noticing, she must have gotten her hands on a hexan-wolf talisman.

I frowned severely at that, to have a dark artifact like that affecting her mind at all, let alone at such a young age. "Fawkes if you will." He let out a fierce cry and flew so fast that most would have mistaken it for teleportation.

Fawkes cry rendered the pair of wolves unable to move, cementing my assumption that they were hexan-wolves. He quickly disabled Miss Potter and the other wolf, removing their talismans, before singing the two of them to sleep. Fawkes song would help to clear the dark magic from their bodies.

That done I turned my attention to Mr. Dursley, who had been similarly stunned by Fawkes cry. "Mr. Drusley are you ok?"

He shook his head to clear it, while he was doing that I made my way over to the other bodies. "Who are you?! What are you doing?" Before I could respond he started running at me. "You get away from my wife!"

I made it to the bodies, one of which was Mrs. Durley. She thankfully seemed to be breathing, the other two, men, were not so fortunate. As Mr. Dursley came near I spoke. "I assure you I have only the best of intentions towards your wife." When he didn't respond I continued. "She seems to be injured, if you let me I may be able to help."

He looked unconvinced. "I am the Headmaster at your nieces school, I implore you let me help." At his hesitant nod I got to work, casting diagnostic charms on Mrs. Drusley. A concussion, multiple broken bones and various cut and abrasions. Nothing fatal, but I would need Madam Pomfrey to insure she made a complete recovery.

I was no healer, but I did know more than my fair share of medical spells, as I set about applying aid I started talking to Mr. Dursley. "I know what happened up until you started after your wife, but could you please tell me what happened after that?"

"And how do you know that?" He asked, gripping his shovel tightly.

"Your son Dudley filled me in. He's safe in my office at Hogwarts," Before he could voice the question I knew was coming I continued. "Before your niece came home for the holidays I gave her a teleportation device to use in an emergency. Such as another Red Court attack, like the one that happened in the summer."

"She used it to send Dudley away?" Mr. Dursley asked, suspicious. Of me, or of Alex?

I forced a light chuckle. "I admit when I gave her the portkey I had expected her to use it herself. But to use it to save her cousin is certainly before coming to help her family is most brave." For her to do so spoke well of her, but for her to put herself in such danger, when help was so close, was worrying. No child should have to make such decisions.

Alex was a child of destiny, she was chosen of fate. Her future was going to be difficult, dangerous in ways that most could not understand. But that did not mean she should have to deal with such things just yet. She was under my protection, more importantly she was a child. It was the preview of adults to insure the health and happiness of children. If it was the last thing I did I would insure she had as happy a childhood as possible.

Still unsure but willing to humor me Mr. Dursley finally answered my earlier question. "After these things took my wife I chased after them. I caught up to them, two of them started hounding me. Then Alex showed up, she distracted them long enough for me to kill them."

I finished with Mrs. Drusley and stood facing him. "Mr. Dursley I…"

Mr. Dursley glared at me. "I. Killed. Them."

I stared at him a moment, he was lying. More than that he knew I knew he was lying. I nodded slowly to him. "Fare enough, though if you think Alex has been, _traumatized_ by this. Please know that I will ensure that she receives the best care possible."

He held my gaze for a long moment, before nodding carefully. "Good, now I believe the only question is what to do with this young lady." I gestured to the young women laying by Miss Potter.

I repressed a small grimace when the small group in the woods made themselves known. "She's coming with us." I calmly turned around. To see two large wolves flanking a Tier-Wechsler in half form and a well-dressed blond haired women in a pantsuit. All of their eyes were glowing a fierce yellow, each of them looked as if they had been through a fight.

"R-Rachel?" Mr. Dursley stuttered.

Rachel Jensen gave him a calming smile, the effect was ruined by her glowing eyes. "Hello Vernon, how are you?" Her eyes never left mine. He never responded, apparently the nights events were finally too much and he decided to keep quiet. "These _trespassers_ attacked my home, they attacked our guests while in our territory. I want to know why."

I could argue with her, technically as a member of an Ancient and Noble House was attacked I could involve Ministry, but Miss Potter and her Aunt needed medical attention and they needed it soon. That and I didn't trust the Ministry to handle this correctly. Werewolves were involved, and the Ministry was never clear thinking when it came to werewolves. The last thing we needed was a war with The Marrok.

So I nodded to her. "If you would be willing to share what you learn about tonight I would be most appreciative."

The Alpha of the White cliffs pack nodded her head. "I will owl you the details."

With her agreement secured I quickly gathered Miss Potter's things and had Fawkes take the four of us to the Hospital wing at Hogwarts.

**888**

_Alex_

I lay in my bed in the Ravenclaw dormitories, trying not to think.

The last few days I had been doing my best imitation of a perfectly normal, if slightly traumatized, school girl. If I was being perfectly honest I wasn't that much worse off than I was pretending to be, but Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were each offering to contact a Mind Healer and before they left, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon encouraged me to accept.

I couldn't risk anyone getting a look inside my head, no matter how helpful it might have been. If they got a look at what was in my head the best case scenario ended with me being taken to the wizarding equivalent of a mental hospital the worst ended with me being mind wiped. No, no matter how helpful a Mind healer might have been I couldn't risk it.

I sighed and rolled over.

When Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had been saying goodbye, I thought I had managed to fool them. Aunt Petunia hadn't bought it, Uncle Vernon had taken Dudley away so she could talk to me.

_After sending Dudley away she leaned toward me. "What you went through was bad, but I want you to know we still love you. What you had to do was hard and it's something that will stay with you for the rest of your life." She gave me hug. "These people here, they want to help you. Let them."_

_I gave her my best reassuring smile. "Of course Aunt Petunia."_

_She sighed and shook her head. "If you want to come back, at any time you're welcome to. I made Dumbledore promise to arrange transportation."_

They left shortly after that.

I repositioned myself to get more comfortable. It wasn't like I was trying to deceive them, it's just that I didn't want them to worry. Killing those men, was horrible and it did affect me, but I was dealing with it.

I really was.

I closed the curtains on my bed and tried to get some sleep, the calming potion wasn't working as well as it had been. So I wasn't getting enough sleep, and I wanted to be well rested when Pansy and Hermione got here. The Express was coming in today, a little sleep and I would be able to deal with being around people I was sure of it.

**888**

_Hermione_

Alex wasn't on the Express, but I wasn't that worried. I'm sure she was perfectly fine.

"She's fine." Pansy said. "If something had happened to her there would be a ten page article on it in the Prophet."

"I know she's fine." I retorted.

"Really?" Pansy reached over and placed her hand on my knee, only then did I notice that it had been wiggling. I forced it to stop.

"Ok maybe I'm a little worried." I admitted. "We had planned to ride the express together, remember."

Pansy arched her brow, smiling slightly. "Yes, I do remember being there for that discussion."

I blushed, "Right, sorry. It's just this isn't like her. Is it? Alex always shows up if she says she's going to."

"I'm sure she's fine Ganger. She probably had to get to Hogwarts early, maybe her Family had to go out of town and wouldn't be back before the break ended. Or something." Pansy sighed. "Look we'll get to Hogwarts and you'll see."

I nodded and tried to lose myself in _'Most Potent Potions'_.

The rest of the trip seemed to take forever, but eventually we made it to Hogwarts. Alex was waiting for us in the entrance hall. As soon as I saw her I drew her into a hug.

"How ya'll doing." Alex asked. Ya'll? I let go and noticed how tense she looked.

"I'm fine," I turned to look at Pansy, expecting her to say something, but she just stood there frowning while she stared at Alex. I shook my head before turning to look at Alex. "Why weren't you on the Express?"

"Oh, no reason. Something came up and I needed to get to Hogwarts early." Alex smiled, and started walking towards the Great hall. "I don't know about the two of you but I'm starved."

As she was walking in one of the other students bumped into her, the Hufflepuff, Perks I think, apologized before continuing on. I wouldn't have thought anything about it except that Alex spun before freezing for a long moment and moving towards the Ravenclaw table.

"I think you may be right." Pansy said.

I looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I think something happened to her." Pansy said. "Something bad."

"You know she doesn't like people bumping into her and she's always been jumpy." I said, defending Alex. "She was just startled."

Pansy arched her brow. "She's never almost attacked another student."

"Alex wouldn't…"

"You might not have noticed but she drew her wand. The only reason were not short one Hufflepuff is because she stopped herself at the last moment." Pansy sounded serious.

"What should we do?" I asked, I didn't have much practice with friends and none of my research on the subject mentioned what to do for something like this.

Pansy shrugged. "Make sure she doesn't do something that she'll regret."

"If that doesn't work?"

"She made us talk after the mirror, if we need to we'll make her talk about what ever this is."

I nodded and we made our way over to sit by Alex.

**888**

_Pansy_

Worry-concern-sadness. I looked up to see Hermione coming towards me.

"Alex wasn't in Defense today." She said, as she set her bag down at my library table. I frowned, it had been a week since classed had started back up and we had been seeing less and less of Alex. The little we did see of her was _not_ reassuring, her movement were alternatively glacial or jerky fast. She was jumping at shadows and I didn't mean that figuratively. Shad had literally jumped a good two feet in the air when Filch's cat had passed by, and it was still light out.

I tried to talk to her after that but she turned the corner and seemingly disappeared. I would have thought she had just used a secret passage or disillusioned herself but I couldn't even feel her emotions. I was attuned to her now, I could feel her and Hermione from almost the other side of Hogwarts. Unless one of us was in the Room, but lately she had been disappearing from my senses as well as my sight.

"I think it's time we get to the bottom of this." Hermione said. I nodded in agreement. "So, how do find her? I tried a point me charm earlier but it just kept spinning. So I tried the Room, but she wasn't there either, and I can't think were else she would be that would interfere with the tracking spell."

"The Headmasters office?" I asked, but I didn't think so. The Professors had been watching Alex as well and she had gone out of her way to avoid them in response. Dashing out of the classrooms as soon as class ended and not answering in class unless the Professor specifically called on her.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe? Do you think we should try it?"

I shook my head. "Not unless we can't find her, bringing the Professors is a last resort."

Do so was easier said than done. According to Hermione, Alex wasn't there when she went to bed or when she woke up but her bed was definitely being used and she disappeared right after class ended. It took me three days to finally corner her, well to get her alone at least.

We were in a rarely traveled section of Hogwarts, not that that was saying anything. Hogwarts was huge and we only used a small portion of it for classes such.

I had skipped all my classes today to follow Alex around well all of them except potions, I wasn't feeling suicidal after all. Anyway, after I finished with Potions, I started following her. I was disillusioned for most of the time but she seemed to figure out that someone was following her, because she started making her way to the less used sections, and when I turned the corner to another empty hallway I thought I had lost her. Again.

I dropped my invisibility charm, and sighed in disgust. "Damn it, Alex you're not making this easy." I nearly jumped when I suddenly felt her emotions behind me. I turned around to see her leaning against the wall.

"Making what easy?" Alex asked smiling. I fought a wince, her smile was painfully fake and her emotions were nearly screaming at me. They were raging so hard I couldn't get a clear read on what she was feeling. The one thing that I could feel clearly through that maelstrom of emotion was exhaustion. She felt like she was going to drop any moment, but aside from her fake smile she looked perfectly put together.

"We need to talk." Was she using cosmetic charms?

"About what?" Alex asked, fake smile still in place.

I didn't bother holding back a growl when she said that. "You know damn well what I'm talking about Potter."

"I'm afraid I don't know Parkinson. Why don't you figure it out then come get me when you do." She said, and tried to walk away.

I say tried, because as soon as she pushed off the wall she started falling forward. I jumped forward to catch her. I knew Alex was on edge, had been on edge for the last week at least. So when I went to catch her I was ready.

I hadn't even touched her when she pivoted on her heel, and throwing her whole body behind it, thrust her arm up knife in hand. The way she was aiming the knife would have pierced the bottom of my jaw and severed the carotid artery.

The wound, while not instantly fatal given the relatively small size of her knife, would have caused me to bleed out in seconds. Even with magical healing and my enhanced constitution I would be dead well before anyone could help me.

I caught her hand an inch before the knife would have pierced my neck. I held her a moment and saw it in her eyes when she realized what she had almost done. Paranoid-anger gave way to fear and disgust, self-disgust, before she broke down sobbing. I caught her as she fell and, keeping a comfortable hold on her, slowly sat on the floor.

"Why don't you come out Granger?" Hermione dropped her spell and suddenly became visible, looking at us in horror. Alex started crying harder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so sorry." I kept holding her, I nodded towards Hermione and after a moment she set up a silencing spell, before joining us on the floor.

We sat there for a long time, just holding her, murmuring assurances and Alex apologizing. After a long while she calmed down and finally told us what happened.

Hermione and I listened in horrified silence as she described killing the two hexan-wolves. How she wanted to taste that mad man's blood, how she woke up nearly night drenched in sweat with a copper taste on her tongue.

"…And every time I try and relax I see his eyes accusing me. 'You killed Dave bitch I'm going to kill you.' And for a spilt moment I actually think he's there and I'm going to have to kill him again." She fell silent before apologizing again. "I'm really sorry, about…"

"Trying to stab me?" I finished dryly. I fought a laugh at Hermione's gasp of disapproval, and did smile at Alex's blush. "It's ok. I kind of thought you'd try that. So I was ready for it."

"I killed two people and you get me in a position where you think I might try to stab you, on purpose?" Alex asked looking incredulous. "Are you crazy?!"

"Well I thought you'd try and punch me, that's why I had Granger following me so she could stun you after you tried." Besides the day she was fast enough to get on past me was the day I gave up on beating Mother.

Alex suddenly sat up, she had been laying on the two of us, and pulled us into a tight hug. Her emotions still had a ragged edge but they were calmer, and I could clearly feel her gratitude-love-acceptance. "That you, thank you so much."

I returned her hug. "What are friends for?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

**Aftermath Part 2**

_Alex_

After Hermione and Pansy staged their, I suppose the only thing to call it is an, intervention things returned to normal. I started relaxing with them again, spending time in the Room and just doing normal student things.

I could finally go to class without spending the entire time there trying to decide the best way to, ahem, deal, with the other students and I could actually go to Defense, something I hadn't been able to do after the first defense class of the new year where I had to grab my chair to keep myself from jumping over my desk and going for Quirrell's throat.

And perhaps best of all Dumbledore had stopped offering to get me a Mind Healer.

I sighed and made an abrupt turn, walked ten feet and turned again. The pacing wasn't helping but I kept me busy. The good feelings had only lasted about a week, after that I started getting worse again.

Don't get me wrong, letting everything out and confiding in my friends, wasn't an instant cure. I had killed two people, would have killed another and had wanted to kill the bastard who controlled them, whose name I still didn't know, so badly I could still taste it. That wasn't going away anytime soon, if it ever did.

No, I had thought I had been getting better, but now it felt like I was reverting. That night should have left me messed up, and it did, but this didn't feel right. I was jumping at shadows and snapping at everyone for the slightest of reasons.

_Snap_.

I jumped nearly three feet in the air and whirled around, wand in hand, to see Hermione a closed book in hand and a wide eyed look on her face. I cringed, ashamed at my reaction, and put my wand away.

"Alex?" Hermione asked, looking pensive.

"Hmm?" I responded.

"I've been thinking. You said you turned into a hexan-wolf right?" I nodded, confused. "Did Madam Pomfrey do anything to get rid of the dark magic?"

"Yeah, she stuck me in a shower and then monitored me for a while after. Why?" I asked, curious that was standard procedure for dark magic exposure. Running water would disrupt the magic and the monitoring medi-witch would repeat the procedure as necessary to insure that no left over dark magic affecting the patient.

Hermione nodded. "That's what I thought, that's standard protocol and for most people that would be enough. But for you that may not have gotten everything."

"What do you mean?" Pansy asked, from her spot on a nearby couch. We were in the Room's library at the moment.

"When we started practicing Occlumency we became more sensitive to magical influences." Hermione said. "Until we actually manage to get to our mindscapes we will continue to be more sensitive to things that effect the mind."

"Wouldn't Madam Pomfrey have noticed if it was still affecting me?" Alex asked.

"Hexan-wolf talismans work by putting a beast spirt, a rage spirit, in you. It's a well-known fact that prolonged use will change the user. I don't think it still is affecting you, but I think it may have already influenced you." Pansy looked at her in confusion. I admit I was lost as well. "I mean that I may have changed something or left something behind despite the shower and that's why you're always on edge."

"Still shouldn't Madam Pomfrey have detected that?" I asked. A creeping horror crawling down my back.

Hermione shook her head. "Not if she didn't think you had been exposed long enough for it to change something. Remember if we hadn't been trying to learn Occlumency you wouldn't have been so sensitive to it. And she's a school healer not Mind Healer"

"So what do we do?" Pansy asked.

"We can't go to Madam Pomfrey." I said. I was not letting anyone in my head.

"Why." Pansy asked, the same time Hermione said. "We have to, she can help!"

I took a deep breath before answering. "Hermione how would they help?"

"They would probably get a Mind Healer to go in and fix it."

I shook her head. "I'm not letting _anyone_ I don't trust in my head." Determination-resolve.

"But…" Hermione tried.

"No one's getting in my head!" I nearly yelled, only just stopping myself. I was fighting the urge to run away.

Pansy got up and slowly made her way over to me and pulled me into in a hug, I struggled for a moment before calming. "Ok. No one is getting in your head."

"Promise?" I asked, sounding small and scared.

"Promise." Pansy said and looked to Hermione.

"I, right fine." Hermione finally said. "Promise."

"Is there any other way to fix this?" I asked Hermione.

She looked deep in thought, before finally answering. "If you won't let the professionals try and help you I think I may know what to do." At our expectant faces she elaborated. "You need to find your mindscape and find out what the spirt changed and fix it."

Oh that's all. "So I just need to find my mindscape, something that we've been trying, and failing to do for months, and fix whatever damage a beast spirit did to me." I said. "That sounds _so_ easy."

Hermione shrugged before saying, in a completely innocent voice. "Or we could get the professionals to help."

I shuddered at the thought. "No, we'll do it your way." I ignored Hermione's annoyed mutter of 'No, _my_ way is sane.'

**888**

We spent every day after class in the Room meditating, trying to find our mindscapes. More than one we skipped diner, but we were no closer than we were when we started and I was getting worse.

Terry Boot had tapped me on the shoulder to ask for some ink, and if Pansy hadn't been sitting right next to me I would be on my way to Azkaban. Thankfully Terry hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, Hermione had.

"This isn't working!" Hermione yelled. "We need help, _you_ need help!" A vein was throbbing in her neck. It did that when she was angry, no wrong word. Worried, that's it. It throbbed when she was worried.

I was very carefully sitting in one of the Library chairs, fingering my empty wand holster. Pansy had been keeping ahold of my wand and my knives, well the knives she knew about. I still had a hold out or two.

I took a deep breath before responding, "Your," prey, "right." It was a struggle to admit that. A part of me, a large part, was screaming at me. 'Hermione's been compromised. She can't be trusted. Kill her while you can.' Thankfully I had gotten used to ignoring it.

"So you'll go Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked. The vein stopped throbbing. Hermione took a step back, and Pansy deliberately put her hand on my shoulder. I tilted my head to look at her behind my chair. She raised her brow.

"You're licking your lips." Pansy said, sternly. Looking me straight in the eye, holding my gaze. NOT PREY. I looked away first.

"Sorry." I said. I turned to look at Hermione, I was shocked she was still here. Pansy I understood, she was a Slytherin and I was the Girl-Who-Lived, politically I was worth more than my weight in gold. She wanted something from me, what that was I didn't know but she was my friend, she had proved that by now, when the time came I would deliver. She had been a big help during this…_experience_.

Hermione though, she was here out of loyalty, nothing else. When I got over this I would need to do something nice for her. Books wouldn't work, with the Rooms library she had access to more books than even my trust vault could by. Grace maybe? I could kill her for Hermione, she would like that wouldn't she? Hermione was prey she wouldn't do it herself, but Grace needed to go anyway.

"Alex." Hermione prompted, I focused on her. "Alex, it's getting worse. You need help."

It was Friday, and class was over for the day. I shook my head. "Not letting anyone in my head."

"Alex," Hermione was crying. Prey, but also pack. Can prey be pack? "Please."

"It's Friday, we don't have any classes until Monday. I say we have one last long meditation session. If Alex hasn't had any success by Monday we drag her to the hospital wing." Pansy said, staring at me in concern.

I nodded, if I didn't figure it out before Monday, well I had already written a note to Dumbledore explaining all I knew about Voldemort. If I hadn't fixed myself before Monday I would do my best to kill Quirrell. He would kill me, but at least it would force Dumbledore to deal with him and best of all it would keep everyone _out_ of my head.

"Ok, on last try." Hermione said. She took a deep breath, appearing deep in thought. "Well, in the spirit of one last try. I may have an idea." She waited until we were both looking at her. "Ok, so you know how we've just been using the library or our rooms to try and meditate." We had, it was convenient to just use the Room's Library. After our meditation, or before, we could use it for our assignments or recreational reading. Hermione gave us a moment to think about it, at our nods she continued. "Well maybe we should have it make a room specifically for meditating."

"Would that make a difference? The only thing you need to meditate is a quiet place, right?" Pansy asked. Also it was our territory, it was safe.

Hermione nodded. "If she were just meditating, then you would be right but we're trying to find our mindscape. It's our center, the place that's completely _us_. Maybe we should try meditating in a place that's just ours as well."

It made sense to us so we stepped out of the Room and I walked in front of the troll painting focusing on me. On a place that would help me find my center. The door took longer to appear than normal. So when it did finally appear I was hesitant to open it. Powerful magical objects not operating like they should was _not_ something to be taken lightly.

Hermione on the other hand had no such reluctance. As soon as the door appeared she opened it. Pansy and I followed her in.

We stepped into a small ten by, well I wasn't sure how you measured circular rooms, but if you were standing in the middle of the room it was five feet to the edges. The room was made of pitch black brick that seemed to eat the light emitted by four blue-green torches, the fire was blue-green not the actual torches. Next to each torch was a door, the one we came in from and three more. Each door had a name on it.

_Alex_

**Pansy**

Hermione

Pansy's door was the same purple as her eyes, it glowed slightly. Mine was black with white spots, the white almost looked like stars. Hermione's was, well it looked like the doors to the Great Hall.

"Is that the entrance to the Great Hall?" I asked. I suppose it could be another wood door, but it looked like the double door entrance to the Great Hall.

Hermione nodded. "I think so, it certainly looks like it."

"Do you think the Room is trying to tell us something?" Pansy asked looking at her door.

I shrugged, "Maybe we need to find our mindscapes by ourselves, or in those rooms is the best place for each of us to find it?" I answered.

"So we just go into our rooms by ourselves?" Pansy asked giving her door a distrustful look.

"Or we could go get professional help?" Hermione said hopefully. I gave her a tired look before turning to Pansy.

"Give me my wand please." Our wands were bonded with us. Trying to find myself without it would be awkward at best, impossible at worst. Pansy carefully handed it over, letting someone handle your wand was a sign of great respect and trust. Mishandling a wand trusted to you was the worst possible insult another person could offer you. I sighed happily as I felt it connection to me pulse. "Thank you."

"Good luck." Pansy said and Hermione echoed her, as I entered my door.

**888**

It was a good thing that Hermione and Pansy had their own doors, because if they ever visited me at Privet drive they would know that this was not it.

It was my home, not Privet or Godric's Hollow, nor even Potter Manor. It was my house from my last life. Or, at least, it was the living room, of my old house.

The living room of my old house wasn't that big. It was long enough for a three person couch and a lazy-boy on one side, on the connecting wall were a few bookshelves. Opposite the lazy-boy was a TV, one of the big old ones where I would watch Saturday morning cartoons with my sister. Next to that was a fireplace, completely boarded up. Papa, my grandfather, didn't trust it not to send the entire house up in flames. Finally there was a big ugly metal desk where my Grandma would sit and make sure the kids weren't doing anything they weren't supposed to.

I took a deep breath, the Room had even gotten the smell right.

I went over to the lazy-boy and threw myself in it, like I used to. I popped the foot rest up and sighed.

I sat there for a long while, just taking it in, happy tears streaming down my face. My emotions, so turbulent the last few weeks, were calm. For the first time, in a very long time, I was home.

My spirit was centered, so when I finally closed my eyes and…

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

**888**

…Finding my mindscape was easy.

I opened my eyes to a room that was a carbon copy of the one I just left. I stood and walked the length of the room, on my right was a hallway that I knew would lead to my old bedroom and other interesting things. What I came here for, wasn't there. I kept walking forward into the connecting kitchen.

The living room was the one from my old life, but the kitchen was all Dursley. It made sense, I could and did cook in my last life but I didn't really get into it until Aunt Petunia started teaching me.

I walked to the end of the kitchen and there was a window completely covered by a thick curtain. Through the window I could see the side of a house and on the side of the house was the largest wasps' nest I had ever had the misfortune of seeing.

I froze, watching the nest unable to look away. The longer I watched the more active the wasps' got. A horrid buzzing sound started, it vibrated the widow. Before they could really get going I shut the curtain and didn't move until the buzzing stopped.

Voldemort's horcruxe.

Of course the dammed thing would take the form of a wasps' nest in my mind. After all what better way for the greatest threat of my life to manifest as the greatest fear of my life.

To say I was frightened of wasps was a massive understatement. I wasn't just scared of them, I was actively phobic of the things. I saw one and I either ran away as fast as possible or froze unable to move. It wasn't a thinking fear, it was a physical force and not something I could fight.

After I calmed down enough to move I made my way out the back door. Outside I found small backyard, fenced in, and beyond that I say a forest. The trees seemed to loom over the fence, as if trying to overtake the civilized part of my mind.

Looking closer I saw that roots were already growing over the fence, most of it was covered in over growth and even as I watched the roots extend several feet. It was a good thing I was here now, Monday may well have been too late. A triumphant howl echoed from somewhere in the forest. I frowned.

"Yuck it up Fido, I'm coming for you and this is my mind. Do you know what that means?" I extended my hand towards the forest, and clinched my fist, the roots shriveled and died leaving the fence unblemished. The howl abruptly cut off. "I'll tell you. Here, I'm God."

I smiled before making my way to the fence and jumped it.

The forest bore only a vague resemblance to the collection of trees behind my house in my last life, but the trees were odd. I mean I wasn't a plant expert but they didn't look like any trees I had ever seen in my life. For one thing they resembled sequoias in terms of height and the upper branches grew together forming large multilayered pathways.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." I muttered to myself.

I started walking, the damn thing had to be here somewhere. Time in a mindscape was very relative to the real world, even so I knew I had been looking for a long while and I hadn't found anything. I walked for miles, looking for something to let me know where the wolf was, but found nothing.

I was almost relieved when I felt something watching me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and my pulse started racing. It was somewhere close.

_Snap._

I whirled around, one of my sliver knives suddenly in hand. Ready to meet the wolf head on. Only to see nothing, I frowned and slowly turned around. Eyes constantly scanning my surroundings.

_Snap._

I pivoted on my heel, knife already slashing outwards. Nothing again.

_Snap._

Nothing.

_Snap._

Nothing.

_Snap._

I didn't turn this time, and something rushed past me. Scoring a bloody cut on my side. I clutched my side, and brought my hand up to see if how much I was bleeding. Not bad, only a little blood.

Before the wolf could rush me again, I backed up against one of the huge trees. This way when the wolf came after me I would see it coming.

_Snap._ On the right, I stayed where I was.

The forest came alive with the sound of fallen branches breaking and rustled bushes, left right and center. Before suddenly stopping, leaving the entire place deafening in its silence.

I leaned forward, bracing myself on the tree, when the wolf finally rushed me I'd meet it head on. This was my mind, the only reason I hadn't dealt with the wolf already was because I couldn't see it. When I saw it, it was done for.

I licked my dry lips and nearly bit it off when the wolf his me from behind, it had me dead to rights. The pounce was textbook perfect, its jaw was clamped on the back of my neck biting so deeply I felt its teeth on my spine. Its front paws slammed into my shoulders and we hit the ground so hard we bounced. When we hit the ground it started shaking its head back and forth, teeth clamped tight, trying to snap my neck.

If this was the real world I would be dead ten times over by now. As this was my mind I was only in a lot of pain. The wolf had me pinned, I tried to shake it off but it remained latched on my neck.

I tried to think, which was hard as the wolf did its best to give me whiplash, this was my mind. I shouldn't need to see the wolf to finish it. I focused on it, trying to set it on fire, or make it disappear. Nothing happened.

_Crack._

I felt something in my neck snap, but the wolf just kept going. She wasn't going to be happy until my head was separated from my body. Even in my mind I doubted I could survive that.

Alright if I can't affect the wolf what about the rest of this place. I focused on our surroundings. Suddenly the tree grew a new branch, it stabbed the wolf in its back yanking it from my abused body.

I tried to move, and found that while I could move my body, my head could not support itself. My spine must have broken, and the less said about the state of my neck, the better. 'Bloody mess' didn't begin to cover it.

I tore off a strip of bark off the tree and made it into a makeshift neck brace. I couldn't move my head, but at least it was upright. I summoned my knife to me and made my way over to where the wolf was still impaled.

"Well aren't you a pitiful sight." The wolf should have been dead, the branch had caught it square in the back and kept going. The part of the branch in the wolf was a good foot in diameter. I guess mental constructs are tougher than their real world counter parts. The wolf let out a low pitched whine of pain. I frowned, I hated causing animals pain. Time to finish this.

I kneeled down next to it and brought my knife to its neck, it whined again. i pressed the blade to it's neck, but stopped when I touched it with my bare hand.

I dropped my hand and frowned this didn't feel right. When Hermione had said that the rage spirit had changed something, I had assumed it had left something behind. But, this wolf didn't feel foreign, overly aggressive yes, but not foreign.

The necklace may have given it form, had stoked its anger and paranoia, but it was still made up of me. The primal part of me, the hind-brain where all our instincts and deep dark fears are kept. If I killed it I would be killing a piece of myself and, incredibly stupid suicide by Quirrell plans aside, I was not into self-harm.

I flexed a mental muscle and the branch retracted. Leaving the wolf bleeding heavily on the ground. I formed a collar and placed it on the wolf's neck. "I can't kill you, your part of me, but that doesn't mean that I going to let you run wild. I've been on edge for weeks because of you. I almost stabbed my friend because of you. If you're going to stay you better understand that I'm in charge." I grabbed the wolf by the neck and looked it straight in the eye. "Got it?"

She turned her eyes to the forest floor, and tilted her head, showing me her neck as sign of submission. I blinked. "Well, ok then." I stood and started making my way out of the forest. I made it to the fence and jumped it. The wolf, who had been following me, stopped, it whined and scratched at the gate.

"You want in, huh?" another whine. I focused on the fence and it changed. Morphing from a barrier against the wild to an open gate. The wolf walked through, as it did it too changed. It went from a barely nonviolent, and only reluctantly nonviolent, wolf to something a little more dog like. "Huh."

It meant something, but I was far too tired to figure out what. I made my way back to the lazy-boy and sat down. Time to get back to the real world.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I opened my eyes in the real world and relaxed into the chair. "I should get up." But I was tired, very tired. The last few weeks had been challenging. I had had to pretend to be mostly ok while every instinct screamed at me to kill all the treats. "I have things to do." I closed my eyes. Just a little nap.

I was out like a light.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

**Aftermath Final **

I woke up feeling better than I had in weeks. My emotions were calm and the exhaustion that had been dragging me down was, if not gone, than at least greatly diminished. In short I was in the best mood possible, so when I noticed that Pansy and Hermione were sleeping on the couch to my left, my only response was to shrug. It probably wasn't as big a deal as I had feared it to be earlier.

I cast the tempus charm, _11:27._ Well how about that, I must have slept nearly twelve hours. No wonder I felt so good. I felt my stomach grumble as it announced its hunger. I liked my lips, for some reason I was really craving bacon and eggs. But I didn't want to just leave Hermione and Pansy here. Do house-elves deliver? I mean Professors must get food in their rooms sometimes right?

I didn't think the elves could hear us while we were in the Room, so I left my room, crossed circle room and slowly opened the door. I whispered. "Can I get some sunny side up eggs and bacon? Oh and some sausage for three please?" I felt silly, whispering out a mostly closed door, especially when nothing happened. I closed the door and nearly tripped over a large tray filled with eggs, sausage and bacon. "Thanks!"

I picked it up and made my way back to my room. I set the tray on the desk and grabbed a plate and piled food on it. I was half way through my plate when Pansy and Hermione started stirring.

"There's food on the desk. If you want some." I said, before going back to my food_. Mhmm, yoke-y goodness_.

They made no move towards the food. "You two not hungry?" They were giving me odd looks. "It's good I promise." They exchanged looks before jumping on me, I barely got my plate to the side table.

"You're ok!" Hermione said. "You had us so worried!" She smacked my shoulder. I smiled, about to reassure her, when she smacked me again. "And then you don't even bother to come out of your room." Hit. "What's wrong with you? Worrying us like that!" Hit, it was really starting to hurt.

"Ow, stop with the hitting." I said. "I'm delicate." Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because she started sobbing. I gave Pansy a helpless look, she just arched her brow and smirked at me. "I'm ok. I promise, I'm ok." I reassured her. After a long while she calmed.

"So you're better now?" Pansy asked, despite her calm tone I could tell she was honestly relieved when I nodded.

"Yeah, I had to show my subconscious whose boss." I said.

"So you did make it to your mindscape as well?" Hermione asked.

I nodded. "So you made it to?" Hermione nodded. I looked at Pansy and she nodded as well. "So what did it look like?"

Hermione blinked. "Like my room, but more books." I was guessing a _lot_ more books.

I laughed. "Sounds about right. What about you, Pansy?"

"Like the Dueling room back home." Pansy said. Just one room? I had at least two full rooms a small backyard and a huge forest. The forest could be put down to my overdeveloped hind-brain, curtsy of the hexan-wolf necklace, and the rest was probably because I had more memories. That wasn't even getting into what ever having a sliver of Voldemort's soul in me had done.

Pansy gave me an expectant look. When I just looked at her blankly she groaned and put her head in her hands.

"I think Pansy wants to know what your mindscape looked like." Hermione said, fighting a smile.

I smirked at her, schooling my expression before Pansy looked up. Judging by glare I didn't fool her. "It, well it looked like my house and a forest that was attacking my house." I gave them an overview of my fight with the wolf. Leaving out the gorier details.

Pansy was frowning. "After all the trouble it caused you didn't kill it?"

"Killing it wouldn't have been right, it was part of me. I mean if it had been a piece of the hexan-wolf I would have killed it but… it wasn't. It was me." I said.

"It was a wolf!" Pansy argued.

"It's _looked_ like a wolf." I said. "It's an important distinction. If it was just a wolf I wouldn't have been able to tame it." Pansy looked unconvinced. I sighed. "Look if I have to I can go in and deal with it, until then I honestly think the wolf's ok."

"Fine." Pansy reluctantly agreed.

I turned to Hermione to see her deep in thought. "You ok Hermione?"

She nodded. "Fine. Just thinking."

"About what?" Pansy asked.

"About the wolf in Alex's head." Hermione got a mad science-y gleam in her eyes. "I don't think I've read about anything like it. Except maybe the Tier- Wechslers, but they all say their one with their wolf. This will require a lot of research!" Oh dear.

"Hermione? Could you maybe try not to look like you want to strap me to a table and cut me open to see how I work?" Her expression was really creepy. Hermione blushed and Pansy started laughing.

**888**

After that the conversation turned to less emotionally charged subjects. We spent a few hours just talking. It was nice, and more importantly it set my friends at ease. The last few weeks were hard for me but it was just as hard for them. They had to keep me from doing anything…rash and keep up with classes without letting on that something was wrong to the rest of the school.

"Why are you going to see Professor Dumbledore again?" Hermione asked as I got changed. I wanted to look nice, if I had my way I wouldn't just be seeing Dumbledore I'd be seeing my family as well.

"Because he said," well Aunt Petunia said, he said. "That I could go see them after what happened. When they left I was, well you know what I was like." In the mirror I saw Hermione flinch slightly. I knew I was bad, but was I really that bad? "And well, I want to see if they know why we were attacked."

"Why would they know?" Pansy asked, from her place on my bed.

"Well they might not, but I think Professor Dumbledore does, and he might not tell me but he'll have to tell my Aunt and Uncle." Hopefully. "And even if he doesn't know, or won't tell us. I would like to see my family." I had to check on Dudley at least, he seemed fine when I last saw him but I hadn't been in the best headspace to judge. I made some final adjustments to my outfit. "How do I look?"

"Nice." "Well dressed." They responded. I wasn't wearing anything fancy just some normal, muggle, cloths, but I was a little nervous. The last time my family saw me I had just killed two people and I was under the influence of a rage spirit and I was resorting to, according to Pansy, painfully fake smiles to pretend I was fine.

"Thanks." I made my hair a little shorter, so it hung just below my shoulder blades. Hermione gasped, and Pansy looked at me a little wide eyed in the mirror. "What's wrong?"

"Did you just wandlessly shorten your hair?" Hermione asked.

I shook my head. "No, or well, yes but no. I just willed it shorter, I've always been able to do that. Didn't I tell you two about it?" I stopped and thought for a moment. It had to have come up before, but despite how I racked my memory I couldn't find any incident when I brought up my metamorph abilities. I blushed, it's not like I set out to keep it from them. It just never came up. "Huh sorry girls, I guess it never came up."

Pansy's eye twitched. "It never came up?"

"You're a metamorphmagus?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe? I mean from what I've heard metamorphs can change everything. I can only change my hair and my skin color." I said. I made my hair resemble a rainbow and turned my skin pitch black. For added effect I made the rainbow cycle its colors, so it looked like my hair was moving. "Cool huh?" They made no move to respond. "Well I have to get going, any later and I'll have to wait until after dinner." With that I returned to normal and walked out, closing the door behind me. Hopefully they'd have gotten over the shock by the time I got back.

**888**

_Hermione_

Alex closed the door behind her as she left. I opened my mouth to say something but the only thing that came to mind was 'Rainbow Brite the Dark elf'.

"Well she's feeling much better." Pansy said.

I nodded. "She's making jokes and…

"…not jumping at every sound." Pansy finished. It had gotten pretty bad, Alex had spent more time in the air than on the ground. I was exaggerating, but not as much as I would have liked.

"Did Alex just reveal another shocking thing about herself and run away before we could respond?" I finally asked Pansy.

"Yes, yes she did." She had the weirdest smile on her face.

"Do you get the feeling that she's hiding anything else?" I asked.

Pansy raised her brow. "You mean aside from whatever made her want to go crazy instead of letting someone in her head?"

"What do you think it is?"

Pansy shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she just doesn't like people in her head?" She didn't sound like she believed that and was just voicing it as a possibility.

"It couldn't just be that, could it?" If it was I would have to smack her again.

"Probably not, but unless she tells us we're not going to know for sure." Pansy responded. "There's one thing I want to know."

"What?"

"Should I call her Night Light or Shifty?"

I couldn't help I just had to say it. "Rainbow Bright!" I broke down giggling at Pansy's nod of agreement.

**888**

_Alex_

The walk to Dumbledore's office was short, and apparently just in time. Because I got there just as the Gargoyle, that guarded the entrance to his office, jumped aside and Dumbledore walked out.

"Miss Potter, how are you feeling my dear?" Dumbledore asked.

"Good Professor." I said.

"Was there something I could help you with?"

"Aunt Petunia said that if I wanted to go see them you would help me get there?" I meant it as a statement but it came out like a question.

Dumbledore smiled and motioned to follow him up to his office. As he walked over to Fawkes' perch he started talking. "I had been meaning to visit them sometime soon, but with the sensitivity of the information I need to tell them perhaps its best you came with me."

"Sensitivity?" Just what was he going to tell them?

Fawkes jumped on his shoulder and he held out his elbow like an old fashioned gentlemen. I placed my hand on his arm and we were off. We landed in my back yard.

Even without trying to sense, I smiled as, I felt the wards greet me.

"It is good that you are feeling better Miss Potter. Your teachers were starting to get worried." I gave him a surprised look and he smiled. "Neither I nor the other Professors are unobservant."

"Then why didn't you…"

"Make you see a Mind Healer?" I nodded. "Letting some in your mind has to be your decision and no Mind Healer would force themselves into an unwilling mind." Dumbledore glanced at the house, movement could be heard from inside. "But it seems that you didn't need one in the first place."

"I have good friends." I said. Without them I'd have gone crazy.

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed." As he went to knock on the backdoor it opened to reveal Dudley.

Dudley's face lit up and he threw his arms around me. "Alex!" He spun me around before pulling back. "What are you doing here?"

"We have come to speak to your Parents mister Dursley." Dumbledore said, smiling gently.

Dudley drew himself up, apparently quite proud of being addressed as 'Mister,' and led us inside. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were sitting in the living room, watching a show on the TV. When we came inside I moved over to Aunt Petunia and gave her a hug. Uncle Vernon stood and gave Dumbledore a stiff hand shake, while exchanging greetings.

"Hey Aunt Petunia." She tried her best to crush me before pulling me onto her lap so she could hold me. Uncle Vernon joined us on the couch and Dumbledore sat in one of the armchairs. Dudley decided he was too old to hold so he stood by Uncle Vernon next to the couch.

"So what brings you here Mr. Dumbledore?" Uncle Vernon asked.

"Firstly, your niece wanted to see you," Dumbledore nodded at me. "And I have some information that I believe you need to hear." He stopped and looked at Dudley. "Perhaps it would be best if it were just the four of us?"

"I want to hear what's going on to." Dudley said.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia traded looks before Uncle Vernon stood an ushered a protesting Dudley up stairs. He returned shortly.

"According to what the Jenson's told me it would seem that someone has put a price on Ms. Potter." Dumbledore said solemnly. What?!

Aunt Petunia's arms tightened around me and I was glad of them. I had enough problems with Voldemort and now there's a price on my head? Did Quirrell set it up? Was that the unexpected present he was talking about?

"Who?" Uncle Vernon gruffly asked. "Who put a price on my niece's head?"

"That I do not know." Dumbledore said. "But rest assured that as long as she is at Hogwarts or here she will be safe. The wards will insure that." I wasn't so sure about Hogwarts, there had already been the troll and the killer quidditch balls, but anyone who tried to hurt me here was in for a rude surprise. "I have the Ministry looking into it. When whoever put the bounty on her is found they will face justice." Yeah, and pigs will fly. The chances of the Ministry being competent were, frankly, ridicules.

Dumbledore pulled out four handkerchiefs. "Until such a time as they are dealt with I would recommend that you keep theses with you." He stood and handed them to me. "If you say 'Mints' they will take you to Hogwarts." He looked me straight in the eye. "I promise you that I will find the person behind this." There was an undercurrent of anger in his otherwise calm tone. He wasn't happy about the price on my head, and he was going to do something about it.

I nodded in agreement. I may not trust him but Dumbledore was very good at what he did. "Thank you." And even if I wasn't sure if he was waiting to sacrifice me to kill Voldemort, he needed me alive for that.

He smiled, suddenly the intensity was gone and I was faced with a simple teacher once more. "I'll expect you back by Sunday night, ok?" he looked at Uncle Vernon as he said it. Uncle Vernon must have nodded because Dumbledore bid us a good night and left.

It was quiet for a moment after he left, I was trying to absorb this new information and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were watching me.

"Alex, how are you really?" Aunt Petunia asked, her voice soft.

"Well before I heard that, I _was_ doing much better." I tried to joke, but it fell flat.

"And now?" She asked.

"Scared." I admitted. When I first realized I was somehow this world's version of Harry Potter I was scared out of my mind. But after a while I came to terms with it, I had plans and contingencies. If this was canon I would have dealt with Voldemort by now, but it wasn't. Was it?

No, in this universe I had competent Quirrells and nice Snapes and a Dumbledore I didn't know if I could trust. It was times like this I wished I was a Mary Sue, if I was none of this would faze me. I'd walk through every problem without ever really being touched. I sighed, if only I was that lucky.

"It's ok to be scared, but I promise you that you will be safe." Uncle Vernon said. "Adam and Rachel came by a few days ago and they promised they would look into this. With them and Mr. Dumbledore I'm sure it will be dealt with soon."

I gave him a look, thinking on it their reaction to the news that someone wanted me dead bad enough to put a contract out on me was more subdued than I would have expected. I had thought it was just shook, but knowing in advance made more sense. But wait, how did the Jenson's even know about it in the first place?

"Wait, how did they know anything about this?" I asked bewildered.

"Apparently while we were being attacked the Jensen's were also being attacked by twenty of those things." Aunt Petunia said. Twenty? Maybe I should rethink threatening Joel in the future?

"Why?" I asked.

Aunt Petunia shrugged. "They said the attack was directed at them. Apparently they represent the Marrik…"

"The Marrok." Uncle Vernon corrected. "Apparently he's the leader of the werewolves."

"…and we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Aunt Petunia finished. So I was just a target of opportunity? My family almost died because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time? I didn't know whether or not I should cry in relief at being a, a, bonus objective or be pissed.

"…Oh." I finally said after a long moment.

Wait. The Marrok? Now why did that sound familiar? It was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe I read about him somewhere, boss werewolf sounds like something I'd have read about.

"You're going to be safe, I promise." Aunt Petunia said and hugged me tight. "I promise."

**888**

Things at Privet drive were tense, Aunt Petunia kept giving me surprise hugs and Uncle Vernon would somehow work fighting tips into every conversation. It was all I could do to get some time to play with Dudley, and even he knew something was going on. Is it wrong that I was relieved to get back to Hogwarts?

I took the portkey back to Hogwarts just before dinner. Dumbledore wasn't in his office so I made my way to the Great Hall, thankfully I had remembered to take a spare robe. So even though I wasn't in uniform no one could tell. I nodded to Dumbledore before joining Hermione at the Ravenclaw table.

As soon as I sat down Hermione's brows drew together. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not that obvious, am I?" I asked annoyed.

She ignored my question. "You look worried. Did something happen?"

I sighed and looked around. "Well talk after we eat?" She reluctantly nodded. After a quick dinner she dragged me up to our room, where Pansy had been sleeping.

She woke up as we opened the door. "How did your visit go?" Pansy asked yawning. Before I could respond she saw my face. "What happened?"

"Oh come on." I said exasperated. My poker face was not that bad. Pansy looked at Hermione inquiringly.

"She hasn't told me yet." Hermione shrugged as she joined Pansy on my bed. She looked at me expectantly.

I sighed and joined them after casting a silencing charm. They exchanged uneasy looks as I cast it. "So I found out why I was attacked." I stopped unsure how to continue.

"Well that's good isn't it?" Hermione asked.

This was big, someone was out for my blood and it might not even be Voldemort, but they had more than earned my trust. "Someone put a price on my head." Pansy seemed to understand what I meant right away but Hermione seemed confused.

"A price on your head?" Hermione asked confused. Had she not heard the term before?

"How much?" Pansy asked, voice low.

"Three million euros." I had found that out from Uncle Vernon, who seemed to go back and forth between horrified at it, too proud at how big it was. At five galleons to a euro that was. "Eight hundred thousand galleons."

Judging by her horrified look Hermione finally understood, she threw herself at me. Pansy though, her face was blank and the light caught her eyes making them seem like they were glowing.

"That's a lot of money." Pansy's voice was clam but I couldn't shake the feeling that she was only just keeping herself from breaking something.

"Yep, but Professor Dumbledore and the Jenson's are looking in to it. I'm sure that it will be resolved soon." I hastened to reassure them. "And even if they can't get to the bottom of this I'm safe at Hogwarts and the wards at home are very good. I be fine at least until this is dealt with." I believed that, more or less. I wasn't scared of bounty hunters for my sake. I was worried they would go after my family, but according to Uncle Vernon Mr. Jenson had promised to see that they were taken care of and with their portkeys I had faith that they would be fine. At least that's what I kept telling myself.

"You know with people trying to kill you it might be good to learn to defend ourselves." Hermione said.

I doubted a bounty hunter could just get into Hogwarts but Voldemort was a definite problem. It was better we learn to fight as soon as possible. I was about to agree with Hermione when Pansy spoke up.

"Tomorrow after classes we go to the Room and we will see just how good the two of you are." Pansy had a vaguely disturbing look on her face, one part determination and two parts repressed violence.

"What about Occlumency? We just got to our mindscapes. We can't just give up on it now." I said in an attempt to get rid of that face.

Pansy blinked before nodding. "Fighting and then Occlumency practice. Sounds good."

Oh boy.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: This was originally much longer, but the last two thousand words got moved to the next chapter.

**Chapter 16:**

**Training Montage**

After my revelation about the price on my head, Pansy and Hermione had decided that the best way to insure that I wasn't killed was to make sure I wasn't alone, ever. In an effort to accomplish this Pansy had decided that until further notice she would be sleeping with us. So last night we, well she, pushed the beds together.

I went to sleep on the edge of the bed, I even put a small barrier of pillows between me and them to keep from ending up in the middle of the two of them. Of course I woke up smack dab in the middle and of course I had to use a switching spell to get out of Pansy's grip. I'm a lite sleeper, someone opens the door to my room I wake up, someone lightly brushes me I wake up, if there's the slightest change in air temperature I wake up. So how the hell do I keep getting moved to the middle of the bed without waking up?!

When I asked Pansy and Hermione how I got in the middle they both claimed ignorance. Liars, the both of them. I spent most of the day giving the two of them the evil eye. I would still be glowering at them but class had ended for the day and Hermione and I were waiting for Pansy call up a room for us to train in.

Pansy made a sound of satisfaction as the door appeared. "Why don't you go first?" She motioned us forward. Hermione and I traded uneasy looks before she started for the door. She opened the door slowly and took cautious look inside, before calmly closing the door a backing away.

I gave her a concerned look. "Hermione? What's wrong?" No response. I looked at Pansy, she just smiled and motioned me towards the door. I carefully opened the door and looked inside.

Inside was a cavernous open room, to the left there was a large white square, for dueling perhaps? On the far side of the square there was a dozen manikins, some had melee weapons, some had wands and others had staves. Obviously for fighting.

To the right was an obstacle course of some sort, there were sand traps, rope bridges, giant bladed spinning tops and scattered around the entire course were even more manikins. These manikins were colored red, white and blue. Fire, water and air? The entire course was suspended in the air, and under it in a huge clear glass enclosure was a monster sized leopard. As I watched it licked its lips and a nauseating green gas escaped its mouth.

I slammed the door closed and gave Pansy an incredulous look. "A Nundu?! Are you out of your mind?!" Hermione squeaked in agreement.

Pansy chuckled. "It's not a real one, I wouldn't risk a corporal one it's an illusion, and it's just there to encourage you not to fall." When my stare didn't abate she rolled her eyes and went inside.

"She's insane." I said and Hermione nodded in agreement. "And we're following her?" Nod. "So, are we crazier?" She shrugged and went inside. I sighed before heading inside. Pansy and Hermione standing next to a small podium by the fighting area.

"How did you think this up?" Hermione asked Pansy.

"It's supposed to be similar to the Warden's training facility at Edinburgh, but well, no one but the Wardens and the Senior Council have actually been inside. So I did my best to extrapolate from what's rumored to be there." Pansy waved her arm, indicating the room at large. "So, here it is. What do you think?"

I eyed the Nundu. "Are you sure it's fake?" It was staring at me like I was lunch.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure." The Nundu bared its teeth at me, fake sure, we'll go with that.

"So this is what the Wardens training room looks like?" Hermione asked, giving the room another look over.

"My best guess." Pansy replied. She indicated the manikins. "These are based on the ones my Father made for our dueling room, but the Wardens probably have something similar." She clapped her hands and smiled. "Alright who wants to go first?" Hermione took a quick step back.

I sighed again, and stepped inside the square. As soon as I entered something snapped up behind me. I looked back and saw an energy field of some sort.

"It's just to make sure nothing gets out of the arena." Pansy said as she fiddled with the podium. She finished and looked towards the other end of the arena where a single manikin had made its way inside, it was one of the ones with a wand. "I want you to beat the golem. It only has three spells, but it will keep using them until its 'dead,'" she actually used air quotes, "Or you give up."

I was still looking at Pansy, so when the golem launched a banishing curse at me, instead of dodging or blocking it, I was thrown into the arena shield. It wasn't as painful as I would have thought, there was a lot of give, so when I fell off it I was on my feet in short order.

As soon as I was on my feet I jumped to the side to avoid another blasting curse and sent a cutting curse at the golem. Before it could hit the golem raised a shield. The shield fell but successfully blocked the curse, I sent another cutter at it. This one connected, leaving a gash on its shoulder.

Sending two curses so soon after one another, and with as much power as I put in them, cutters weren't shield breakers, I was a little winded. So the next banishing curse clipped me as I jumped out of the way. I tried to go with it but still ended up on spiraled on the sand. The disarming curse hit me as I was standing up, yanking my wand from me.

"Give up?" Pansy asked, hand poised over the podium.

"No." I said glaring at the golem and jumped out of the way of a banishing curse. As I landed I sent a knife at its head, it would have connected if the golem hadn't shielded itself. I started running at the golem, throwing the other two knives as I ran, both were blocked.

I dodged another curse, disarming I think, grabbed one of the fallen knives and threw it at the golem to distract it long enough for me to get behind it and get my wand. As soon as I had my wand banished the golem, sending it flying towards the other end of the arena. While it was still in the air I threw a reducto at it, reducing the golem's lower body to shards.

The arena shield dropped and I fell to the ground gasping for breath. The running and the magic had drained me.

"You ok?" Pansy asked as she handed me a glass of water. I took a long drink before responding.

"Yeah, just winded."

"That was amazing Alex." Hermione said. I smirked but shook my head.

"Not really, the golem only used three spells and it never moved and it was pretty slow with its casting." Pansy was nodding to my points, Hermione just frowned. "And I used a cutting curse when I should have used a _reducto_ to drop its shield."

"That was level one of the golem's three settings. On level one it only uses three spells, they only put a bit of power into the spells, and it won't move from its starting position as well as taking its sweet time when casting spells." Pansy explained. "Level two it starts moving and casting as fast as it can, with about double the potency and at level three it will start using multiple spells with the potency is almost equal to a recent Hogwarts graduate and it will move very fast."

She paused for a beat to let that sink in before she continued. "By the end of the school year I expect you to be able to at least keep up with a level three golem."

"Are you sure we can? I mean I barely beat this one." I asked, Hermione nodded in agreement.

Pansy nodded. "Alex, you froze that troll while it was submerged in water. Water drains magic! Do you know how much power that takes?"

"A lot I guess?" I knew it was power intensive, but it wasn't that impressive, was it?

"Alex doing what you did would have killed Hermione, it probably would have killed me or at least it would have knocked me out for a week or more. You recovered in a night." Oh, well then. I guess I'm awesome. "But all that power is worthless if you don't know how to use it, and you don't. Not really." _Oi_, that's the sound of an ego deflating.

Pansy's gaze turned to Hermione. "You managed to duel Draco to a standstill and _he_ won first place two years running in the Young Duelists Championship. You can both be good fighters, you just need more practice." Pansy nodded. "Beating a level three golem is not out of the question, not with how I'll be training you." A shiver went down my spine. "I know you can both do that."

I found myself straightening at that, her confidence was infectious.

"Ok, so what's the plan?" Hermione asked.

Pansy's smile was positively demonic. "Practice, lots and lots of practice."

**888**

The following month was hell, there's simply no other way to describe it. Pansy woke us before the sun rose and we spent an hour or so meditating, to work on our mindscapes defenses. Our mindscapes starting shape was simply a base from which we built our defenses, which often left us with headaches. Well Hermione and I got headaches, Pansy was always fresh as a daisy.

After that we started running, apparently there was a mile long track on the other side of the obstacle course. After the first week Pansy had the golems start chasing us. ("They won't hurt you if you run faster!") And then there was fighting practice, not dueling, never dueling, dueling had _rules_.

Most times we fought a wanded golem, by the second week Hermione and I could consistently, if not easily, beat one set at level one. It was difficult, I was drained after and would drop to the ground gasping for breath but I could do it. I usually won by dropping its shield and then either hitting it with a reducto or one of my knives it before it could get its shield up again. Hermione was gifted in transfiguration so she turned the environment to her favor, nothing complex but once her matches were finished the arena usually had a dozen crude walls and the golem was encased in the arena floor.

Once practice was done, we quickly refreshed ourselves in a bathroom the Room provided. More than once Pansy had to wake us up, as we fell asleep while under the water. Then we made our way to breakfast where coffee, disguised in our mugs as juice, became a necessity. Morning classes followed and then lunch after which Pansy would sometimes slip us Pepper Up potions. Think coffee on steroids and you have a good idea what they do. I don't know where she got them but they were the only thing that got us threw afternoon classes. At least at first by the end of the month we our bodies started adjusting to our schedule. Once afternoon classes finished it was back to the Room for more fighting practice and another shower. Then it was dinner and, finally bed. (God I love bed.)

Saturdays were our one free days, Hermione and I insisted we needed them to keep up with our class work and to make sure no one thought we had decided to cut ourselves off from the student body. It was study day for Ravenclaws after all.

On Sunday we got to sleep late, to get our strength back Pansy would say. It was a trap, because on Sundays she would have the Room summon _interesting_ opponents. Leading to such gems as…

"Scorpions do not grow that big!" I jumped to the side. "They don't hunt in packs either!"

"Why are we blind folded?"

And my personal favorite

"Cows don't scream like that!"

Pansy if you ever read this, that month was the worst time of my life. Yes, I'm even including everything that happened in fifth year, you have no idea how many times I wanted smothering you as you slept.

The only reason I didn't, you know aside from her being my friend, was well I didn't think I was physically able to.

One day, about three weeks in to our training from hell, we were almost ready to throw in the towel and questioning her training Pansy decided to show us exactly why she knew what she was talking about.

**888**

Hermione and I were about ready to drop, it had been a long day of training, classes, training, assignments, trying to stay awake in class and training. So we were beat, I mean legs shaking, arms limp and spirit exhausted and Pansy wanted us to do one more match.

"Hell no." I said, with eyes closed just trying to breathe.

"Language," Hermione gasped from the floor. "But seconded."

Pansy, who despite all the training looked as if she had just taken a walk in the park, frowned at us. "Just one more match, and then you can shower. I promise."

"I can't move." Hermione said, still on the ground.

"Seconded." I said.

"If you don't both get in that arena I will personally drag the both of you in myself." It was no idle threat, she had done it before and the golems would happily banish us into the walls until we started fighting back. It didn't actually feel that bad if the arena's cushioning charms were set to their highest level.

"Look I know your tiered but you need to work on your response times and it will help with your magic, it's a mussel the more you use it the stronger it gets." Which was true, although it was more accurate to say that the more you used it the better you got at channeling it. The more you could channel the 'stronger' your magic got. The actual amount of magic only slightly increased by exercising it, so slightly in fact that it was nearly impossible to tell, but there was a definite difference if you compared someone who only rarely used their magic and someone who actively trained it. "And the two of you need to work on your battle reflexes. Neither of you are fast, or mean, enough."

"Why don't you do it then if it's so important!?" Hermione asked heatedly. Training had been difficult for Hermione, it had been hard for the both of us but Hermione was really not liking it. I had used my new life to stay in shape, not Olympics level or anything but in shape. Hermione while not out of shape was not exactly in shape either.

"Because I can already beat the two of you while blind folded? Because I'm not the one who still drops every day after training? Because I said so!" Pansy responded just as heatedly. She was fairly easygoing most of the time but she hated it when her training was questioned. I got it, I really did. She put a lot of effort into helping us, and I had to say she was doing a good job. I could already tell the difference when I fought. So when Hermione and I questioned her training regime she got…testy.

I, however, was in no mood to care. "You know this whole time we've never seen you fight the golems. You've just been having us fight them. If it's so important that we fight them why don't you show us how it's done?" Hermione voiced her agreement.

Pansy arched her brow. "You want to see me beat a golem? Fine." She walked into the arena. "But after you better get inside."

I nodded and went over to the podium. It was fairly simple three buttons for the three types of golems and a diel to decide their levels. I pressed the sword button twice and the wand button once and set them all to level two. It should be enough to beat Pansy, or at least keep her busy long enough so Hermione and I could sneak away.

"Ready? GO!" I pressed the green starting button and started backing away.

"Stay!" Pansy growled. I froze.

As soon as the match had started the sword golems had made their way across the arena, moving at speeds often found on all star track teams. The first one reached her and swung at her. Pansy ducked under the swing and came back up in a smooth move that ended with her wand at the base of the golem's throat. With a whispered incantation the golem's head fell from its shoulders.

The headless golem started falling but before it could she shoved it at the other sword golem that was lunging at her.

She jumped sideways to avoid the disarming curse the wanded golem sent at her, grabbing the fallen sword before she went. The last sword golem had just shoved the headless one off it when Pansy lunged at it and trust her stolen sword into its chest.

Before it could fall she turned it to block the incoming curse, ducking as she did so. When the spell hit the golem went flying. She was on her feet instantly her hand gripping the flying golem's fallen sword which she threw at the wanded golem, who shielded itself. The sword pierced the translucent shield but missed the golem. The golem raised its wand for another spell only to explode when the _reducto_ Pansy had sent at it after throwing the sword hit.

The entire fight couldn't have taken more than thirty seconds.

Hermione and I stood speechless as Pansy marched over to us.

"Now, you can fight me or you can get in there and tag team a golem." She said. "You choose."

We chose the golem.

….

AN: For anyone who thinks Pansy beat the golems to easily just remember that she has been training to fight her Mother for a long time. Training with those golems in fact. Also if she were to fight her Mother right now she would lose, and she would lose badly.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

**Here Be Dragons**

_Pansy_

_Bombarda: Rarely fatal if medical aid is rendered quickly, as such this spell is a favorite among duelists the world over as a shield breaker…recommended age of use thirteen. Though power levels vary._

Hermione would be able to use this, it would be the only spell she used for a while after but if she used it to drop a shield then either I or Alex could easily finish them. I nodded, I would show it to Hermione tomorrow at practice. It should prove useful against the crabs.

"How did you land potter?" Anticipation-envy-greed-jealousy, and honest curiosity.

"Hello Greengrass, how are you today?" I asked, never looking up from my book.

Daphne sniffed. "It's not like you're a catch, your family can barely scrape together more money than the Weasley's," she clutched her chest dramatically. "Oh I'm sorry did I say family? There's only two Parkinson's left right?" glee-anticipation.

"Is that the best you have Greengrass, attacking my family? How," I made a show of looking for the right word. "Sad." Was she really trying this now? Hadn't I already smacked her down enough to get some peace? I looked around the room, everyone was carefully not looking at us. Curious.

Daphne blinked. "Sad?" Surprise-uncertainty. Had she really expected me to just take it? I took another look around the room. Her allies were here, I wouldn't expect her to try anything without them but they were far from the only ones here. Most of the House was here, failure now would cause her standing to drop considerably. Risky, much riskier than I thought Daphne would be willing to chance.

Unless, _oh my,_ it's like that?

I smiled at her beatifically and nodded. "Yes, small. I mean while the Parkinson fortune is obviously no match for the Greengrass's it is more than enough for me and several generations after me to lay back and relax. So that's certainly nothing to be ashamed of." I tapped my bottom lip. "Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't gone after my lack of family members, a fate many of our friends," I indicated the room at large, "share. The last war was hard on all of us."

Daphne opened her mouth to retort, but I kept going savoring the faint stirrings of panic.

"As for how I landed Potter, well she got in a kerfuffle with a mountain troll, you remember, the one she executed with a single spell?" Triumph, odd why would she feel that. I was about to continue when Daphne interrupted.

"And you rushed out to save her," She smirked, "like a Gryffindor." Really was that the best she could come up with? Sad really.

My smile turned condescending. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to insure she and her friend made it out of the woods safely." I blinked innocently for effect.

She smiled, "So you made sure to save a mudblood?" Is that what she was building towards? If so it was already backfiring on her, as highly as Slytherin valued blood purity, it was still considered unbecoming to speak openly on the matter. More than that the minority of half-bloods and muggle-borns would take offence. She was making enemies and she didn't even realize it, r didn't care which was worse.

"Oh my yes, I saved her friend thereby putting Granger in my debt and leaving Potter happily disposed towards me. You're right how very _Gryffindor_ of me." Let them make of that what they will.

I wasn't happy about having to imply that, but with all the time I had been putting in with Alex and Hermione my standing in Slytherin had slipped and this would deal with it. For now at least, if I really wanted to maintain my position I would have to spend more time in the snake pit. Fun.

I stood and made my way out of the common room. I started making my way to the library when I felt it.

Anger-sadness-loss. It felt like Draco.

I followed the emotions to an abandoned class room and slowly opened the door. Cobwebs covered almost every available surface, the walls the celling and the desks themselves. Sitting near the front of the room Draco slumped on the table, his shoulders shook slightly. I closed the door.

"Draco?" I asked as I sat next to him

He started slightly before lifting his head to look at me. Giving me a look at his blood shot and puffy eyes and runny nose. "Pansy?"

"What's wrong?"

"What do you care? You've got Potter now don't you?" There was an ugly twist to his features. Jealousy-pain-anger.

"Draco, just because I have new friends doesn't mean were not _Allies_." I put emphasis on the last word, he had to remember what I meant.

Draco blinked. "Allies?" Confusion. Come on Draco.

I nodded. "Remember, we were maybe six at the time and we decided that we were going to take Slytherin together?"

"Allies," He shook his head, "right." Recognition-fond remembrance. There we go.

"Do you remember the oath we came up with?" I asked.

"Contacts, that's who we use to win. Allies, we use…"

He trailed off and I picked it up. "…Blackmail, that's what we use to win. Allies use…"

"…Money, it's what we need to win…"

"Allies, together we win."

We both started laughing.

"That was horrible." Draco said, wiping at his eyes.

"We were six, besides I quite liked it." I replied. "And you Mom liked it."

"Like _may_ be pushing it."

I remembered the face she made, "You may be right." Mrs. Malfoy's had looked as if she had bitten into a particularly sour fruit. "Still she clapped, which is more than your father did." He had walked out mid performance.

Draco flinched.

"Draco, really I want to know, what's wrong?" I asked.

He sighed and looked away. "Father has, he's assumed full Headship."

Oh. "Draco I'm so sorry." I pulled him into a hug. To assume full Headship of a House the last Head had to have died. Which meant that Draco's Grandfather was dead. I had never really seen him, the old Malfoy Head had long been sick and spent much of his time in his room. To be honest during the time I spent over at the Malfoys I actively avoided seeing him. He reminded me to much of Father.

"I should be happy. Father is." Draco said, his voice muffled by sadness. "But I…"

"He was family, it's completely normal to miss him." I tried to reassure him.

"He was only a hundred, he should have had centuries left." His tears were soaking my shoulder.

"Shhh, it will be ok. I promise."

After a while he pulled back. "Thank you."

"Happy to help." I said.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" He asked. Nervous-embarrassment.

"Of course not, were Allies remember?"

He nodded smiling, "Allies."

**888**

_Alex_

After Pansy curb-stomped the golems she eased the schedule a bit. Only a little, but enough that Hermione and I suddenly had energy again. After the pace we had been following the cut back seemed a minor miracle.

Why she eased the schedule I don't know, maybe it was because assignments started piling up in preparation of the End of Year Exams or maybe it had to do with the weird looks the teaches were giving us. They knew we were up to something but since we didn't let our work suffer they left us to our own devices.

Personally I think it was because she decided we would actually take in more instruction if we weren't about to drop all the time. Hermione and I were so happy we actually wept tears of joy, well I did Hermione just held me as I cried and made sympathetic noises. Pansy rolled her eyes in disgust at our antics, but I saw a smile tugging at her lips.

It was a Saturday, which meant that aside from study group with the other First Year Ravens I was completely free and, after nearly a month of no attempts on my life, I was finally able to go out alone. Hermione was in the library, the regular one not ours, preparing for the study group later and Pansy was politicking with the Slytherins.

So it was, with a song in my heart, that I made my way to Hagrid's hut. The hut looked like something out of a fairy tale, a thatch roof, old world wood work and a chimney billowing smoke. Then you saw the Forbidden Forest, looming ominously behind it, and realized the fairy tale was something closer to the Brothers Grim, than anything Disney ever produced.

I knocked on the huts door and hopped to the side. I was still nearly bowled over from the heat emanating from inside the hut. Fang, Hagrid's boar hound, shot out the door and kept going.

"Shut the door will ya?" Hagrid said, from his seat near his roaring fire place. "Can't let all the heat out, now can I?"

I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me, and was immediately drenched in sweat. "I know it's still cold out, but isn't this a little overboard?"

"It's not for me, it's for the little one there." He indicated the fire, before realizing what he said. "Er, I mean…I get cold?" He gave me a worried look.

In spite of the heat my blood froze, because sitting in the fire was a large egg. "H-Hagrid is that a dragon egg?" My voice only cracked a little, a fact I was quite proud of.

Hagrid hesitated a moment before deciding he wasn't going to convince me otherwise, and nodded. "Aye that it is." He smiled hugely. "She's a beauty isn't she?"

I dropped bonelessly into a nearby chair.

There were two types of dragons, Dragons and lesser dragons. Dragons were what gods wanted to be when they grew up. They were Powerful with a capital P, they were not to be trifled with under _any_ circumstances.

Low class dragons were the servants of their more powerful cousins. While more like animals than their cousins, they were still forces to be reckoned with. It took a team of trained professionals to deal with one of them. More than anything what made them dangerous was that they served Dragons, and Dragons didn't like their things being messed with.

Having possession of a dragon egg wasn't just illegal, it was a death sentence. If the Ministry found out about this they would kill Hagrid to avoid angering whichever Dragon this egg belonged to. We had to get rid of it.

I dragged my horrified gaze from the fire to Hagrid. "Hagrid please tell me you know how," Stupid, idiotic, suicidal, "illegal this is?"

"Aye, but they're not going to, I mean it's not like their on the lookout for dragons. Now are they?" Hagrid said as he went back to tending the fire.

"You might be able to keep it from being discovered for a few weeks before someone who will tell the ministry finds out. But they _will_ find out." I tried to reason with him. "It's only a matter of time."

"Aw, you worry too much." Hagrid dismissed. "It'll work out, you'll see."

I saw the determined set of his features and slumped. Right, no intelligent life there. I sighed before asking for some tea. I wouldn't be able to convince him easily, but I would convince him. It'd just take time. In the mean time I had to find out if he got it in exchange for information on Fluffy the Cerberus.

"So how'd you get it?" I asked.

"Oh that's a story, that is." Hagrid said. "I was in Diagon, running errands you see, and I had just popped into the Caldron for lunch and this lass comes over and asks me if she can sit with me. With me." He chuckled. "Can you believe it?"

Lass? A women gave it to him? "Was she pretty?" A normal eleven year old would ask that right?

"Oh, aye." He rubbed his beard. "Well, I think she was, she sounded pretty but she was wearing this cloak, so I couldn't see how she looked."

Quirrell in disguise? "Sounds romantic?" I tried.

Hagrid laughed. "Oh nothing like that, she said she was an animal breeder. An' that she specialized in reptiles but the Ministry was shutting them down and destroying all her work and sizing the little beasties. She said 'I can't just let them take them but I remember you always wanted a dragon. So could you please take her for me?' Now how could I refuse that?"

"She knew you?" I asked. Tom Riddle did go to school with Hagrid, easy enough to pick someone from their time there and impersonate them.

"Aye, we went to Hogwarts together, lest till I got kicked out." Hagrid replied uncomfortably.

"Really? What's her name?" I could look it up later, see if this person actually existed.

Hagrid started to reply but stopped, a confused look crossing his face "I know she told me. What was it?" Had someone tampered with his memory? Hagrid slapped his knee. "Mary Haggelthorn, that's it. I knew I'd remember." Or maybe just bad a memory.

"Did she tell you who she worked for?" I asked.

"You know, I don't think she did." Hagrid mused. "Aw what's it matter anyway? I got the egg and she got one over on the Ministry, we all got what we wanted." Hagrid looked disinclined to continue this particular line of conversation.

Right, change the subject. "So did you and this pretty girl talk about anything else?" I asked innocently, laughing slightly at Hagrid's blush.

"Now you never mind that," he stuttered. "And no, she had to leave pretty quickly after that. Said she was going to Paris and her portkey was leaving soon."

I blinked, nothing about Fluffy? Just what's going on here?

**888**

I made it to the library just in time to get treated to a lively debate on Quidditch. Terry Boot and Lisa Stroud

"Violence is a part of Quidditch, if people get hurt it's just a part of the game!" Lisa Stroud explained passionately.

"But it doesn't have to be!" Terry boot said. "Plenty of sports go out of their way to insure that the players are safe and they're still lots of fun!"

I sat down next to Hermione. "What prompted this?"

Hermione sighed. "Apparently the last Quidditch game ended with half of the Gryffindor players in the hospital wing."

Tarry apparently heard her and used decided to use it to support his argument. "Exactly! If even school matches get that violent then just haw bad are the leagues?" That seemed a little too violent to me, but then I didn't really keep up with Quidditch. So what did I know?

"Rally?" I asked. "Who were they playing?"

"Hufflepuff." Lisa answered, before turning towards Terry. "Your confusing violent for dangerous. Yes the players get hurt, but a few hours with a Med-Mage and they're completely fine."

I raised my brow, and leaned towards Hermione. "How long have they been at this?"

"Since they got here, so maybe half an hour?" Hermione said.

"Are we going to work or argue about Quidditch?" I asked them.

Terry replied. "We can argue until Padma and Anthony get here." Lisa nodded in agreement, and with that they started going at it again. I tuned them out.

"How was Hagrid?" Hermione asked as she looked over her notes.

I lowered my voice. "After we get done here lets head to the Room." A lot of books say that they could hear the uppercase in someone's voice, but it's harder than it seems to talk in uppercase when you're trying to go unheard.

Judging by Hermione's concerned look she got my meaning. "Is everything ok?"

I nodded. "For now, let's just focus on charms. I still have a bet to win."

Hermione huffed. "_I_ will be winning that bet. Thank you very much."

**888**

I had explained the situation to the girls that night and they agreed to help me get Hagrid to see reason. They had both started researching any information they could dig up on dragons, Pansy had focused on the laws applying to them and Hermione on the dragons themselves.

So far the results were not promising, legally things were about what I had expected. Outside of very specific items Wand Crafters paid ridicules sums of money for, owning or trafficking in dragons, their organs, eggs or other such products was a death sentence. If the Ministry didn't get you, the Dragons would.

As far as keeping a dragon hidden that was also a no go. Even the smallest of dragons would reach the size of horse in a few weeks, at most. Going by how the egg was growing it would not be a small dragon. When I first saw the egg it was the size of an ostrich egg, now it completely filled Hagrid's fire place.

On top of that, once the dragon reached a size were it could reliably fly, it would seek out the nesting grounds of its kin. All the books agreed on that. That was, I believed, my best chance of convincing Hagrid he couldn't keep it.

I snuck out of the castle and made my way to Hagrid's hut. I was skipping History to get out here now, but it was last class of the day and Hagrid had sent me a note saying he was feeling ill during lunch. If I was ever going to convince him now was my best chance.

Before entering I cast the cooling charm on every article of clothing I wore. It was nearly freezing out here but I would need it one I was inside. I had learned it after I very nearly gave myself heatstroke during my first trip here last week.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in," a weak voice moaned from inside. I let myself in and frowned when I saw Hagrid curled on his bed. I sat the food I had brought on the table and went over to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Stomachs all topsy-turve and my heads pounding." Hagrid moaned, holding very still. He was flush and sweating bullets and every few seconds he would wince.

"I think the fire's finally got to you." I started casting cooling charms on him and his bed and even the wall right next to him. I passed him some water after making sure it was cool but not cold. "Better?"

"A little."

"I think you've got heatstroke. You just need to cool down and drink some cool water." I had gotten heat sickness before and it was horrible but easily treatable if you got to it soon enough. "You'll feel better before you know it."

"Mhmm." He took another small drink and handed it back to me before relaxing into the bed.

"You just rest I'll watch the egg." No response. I put the water back on the table and sighed. I was fairly sure it was just the heat getting to him but better to be sure. I cast a basic health charm on him and nodded when it showed me what I expected, exhausted, over heated and dehydrated. Nothing some cool air and rest would cure.

The heat must have finally gotten to him, he had cast some fire proofing charms and cooling charms but with the remnants of his wand being what it was, they didn't last long.

I settled myself at the table and started sensing.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

Hagrid's magic reminded me of mountains and forests, the smell of freshly fallen rain and the sure strength of the mountains. It was oddly diminished today, maybe his magic trying to heal him? Interesting but not why I had started sensing.

In the fireplace the dragon egg was almost intoxicating to my senses. The first thing that came to mind was Predator, as expected and there was the roaring fire and soring wind I had knew would be there, but it was more complex than that. There was also the chill of winter, though I could barely sense that, and earth as well, but again that wasn't it. There was something that I could only term Death in its magic as well but it was two sided. Death and Life, right now they seemed evenly matched as if it could go either way.

I frowned and came back to myself. That was a much clearer read than I usually got from the egg. Before today all I got from it was the fire, wind and earth. They were interesting, they had a deeper feeling to them than any other magic I had sensed but there wasn't any, I struggled for the right word before settling on, _concepts_ before now.

_Crack_.

Oh that's not good.

"Hagrid! Wake up!" He moaned but didn't move. "The eggs hatching!"

"…put out the fire." He finally said, but when he tried to sit up he just started moaning again.

I grabbed the water jug on the table to dowse the flames, but when I went to throw the water on it the fire was gone. I put the jug back on the table.

"Ok, now what?"

"There's some big fire proof mitts by the door, once she hatches use them to pick her up. She'll still be hot I…" he groaned before forcing himself to continue. "There's a bowl next to the fire place…"

_Crack_.

"Ok and I use the bowl for?!"

"…there's a flask with her food in it pore it in the bowl." That seemed to be all the strength he could muster because he stopped trying to move or talk.

I filled the bowl, got the mitts and watched the egg hatch. The cracks started spreading from the first crack until the entire surface was covered in them.

_Crack. Crack. Crack._

Silence.

I stared at the egg, every inch of the thing was cracked but the noise had stopped and the egg had stopped shaking. Was it dead? Before I cold voice my concern there was a final ear bursting crack and the egg exploded sending the shell flying. One of the shards cut me across my cheek before I raised the mitts to block the flying shrapnel. The egg shards tore through the hut, smashing into things and cracking the windows.

"Blimy." Hagrid said after the storm stopped.

I lowered the mitts and stared dumbfounded at the dragon in the fireplace. It was a little over a foot tall at its shoulders and from its head to its tail it was nearly three feet. Its' scale was dark navy with red highlights and black claws. It was beautiful.

The effect was somewhat ruined when it screeched and launched itself at me. I raised the mitts to try and shield myself, but even with Pansy's training I was to slow. Before I could even get them half way to my face the dragon landed on me and curled itself around my throat.

One moment I'm raising my mitt covered hands to try and pull the dragon off me and the next I'm on the floor black spots dancing in my eyes. I gasped trying to bring in air that wouldn't come, I felt as if I had run a thousand miles. All the energy I'd come here with was gone, and I was rapidly losing what little energy was left.

The black spots in my eyes expanded filling nearly the entirety of my vision. My pulse, which had started pounding when the egg exploded, was slowing with every passing second.

_Beat, beat, beat._

Distantly I heard Hagrid fall out of his bed.

_Beat...beat...beat._

I felt Hagrid try and tug the dragon off me and felt the floor shake as he crashed to the floor next to me.

_Beat_.

I had to stop this, but all I could feel was the slowing of my heart. At this point I couldn't even feel my arms or legs and my head felt like it was filled with cotton. My vision had narrowed to pinpricks.

…_beat. _

I gathered the last of my energy and tilted my head to look the dragon in the eyes. I had never tried to enter someone's mind before now, my studies in Occlumency were just starting and entering someone's was as advanced as it was dangerous. I did know the basics though, so with no training or experience to draw on, I pushed the last remnants of my magic through my eyes and tried to invade the dragons mind.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Before anyone asks, yes there is something going on with the dragon. I won't say what, but feel free to guess.

**Chapter 18:**

**Dragons Are People Too.**

Just entering the mind of another sapient being without permission is, at best, a gross abuse of power. It was an intimate experience, how could it be anything else? You were seeing and feeling the deepest thoughts a person had to offer.

Doing that without permission is bad enough, but actively trying to change things was a violation so wrong, I can't even put it in words. It was perhaps the most dangerous ability a witch could have, given that an inexperienced mind reader could go in with the best intentions and still do something horrible.

I was the _very_ definition of inexperienced.

Perhaps it was best that instead of entering the dragons mind I managed to induce a Soul Gaze.

If just entering someone's mind was intimate, than a Soul Gaze was infinitely more so. It was the difference between shaking someone's hand and taking them to a mountain retreat for a month, clothes not necessary.

You wouldn't get every detail of their lives, or all their secrets, but you would get a crystal clear look at who they were underneath it all. You would see who they were at their deepest layer, what drove them and what was important to them, and for good or ill, it stayed with you. As fresh and as vivid as it was when you first saw it.

When I Soul Gazed the Dragon I found myself floating in an endless void, the sun itself could fit in here and be dwarfed. In the center of the void was a pulsing spark. I would hesitate to call it a spark at all it had no shape or form or color, it was potential in its purist form.

As I watched the spark started changing, parts of it started to resemble the traditional elements of earth, air, water and fire. But these were rapidly overshadowed by greater concepts. Life, Death, Protection, Domination, Order and things that I had no name for but, in this place, instinctively understood.

The concepts started vying for dominance. Tearing at each other, ripping each other apart and being ripped apart in turn, reforming and going at it over and over for what seemed like a small eon. Until finally two concepts stood triumphant, the others settling for positions of lessor importance.

Death and Protection.

The Soul Gaze ended and I found myself back in Hagrid's hut, my eyes still locked with the Dragon.

_Little Death. Hunger._

I jumped a little, what the hell?

_Feed. Hunger. Little Death._

Was she talking to me? The Dragon nodded. It was at this point that I realized that neither of us had spoken aloud. Oh dear.

The Dragon rumbled, comfortingly? _Commune._

I pushed that to the side for the moment and tried to focus on making sure the Dragon didn't start feeding on me again. Alright so she's hungry, what to get her. My first thought was of the leather flask of dragon food.

_Negation_.

Ok than, what do you want?

_Food._

Real clear, thanks.

_Food!_

Right, sorry. Ok so not the normal dragon food, but then what? I nearly smacked myself when I figured it out. Magic, it's the only thing she'd been eating so far.

_Agreement. Little Death. Hunger. Feed._

Alright, now how do I get you magic without killing a dozen little kids?

_Hunger._

If Hermione were here she would know, but she should be at the Room…That's it the Room. It could make giant animals made of magic, surly it could satisfy one small Dragon.

_Agreement. Little Death._

I took off the mitts before I made to stand, only now noticing that much of my magic had been returned, and the Dragon settled herself on my shoulders. I started for the door and nearly tripped over Hagrid.

"Hagrid?" I shook him but got no response, except a loud snore. A twitch of my arm and I had my wand in hand. I cast the basic health charm I had used before, it was something I had been forced to learn during the hell month that Pansy put us through as we couldn't just go to the Hospital Wing every time we got hurt.

The spell reported that he was tired but otherwise fine. I slapped him to try and wake him but that got no response. "Wow, really tired."

_Mountain Man. Resting. _

Mountain Man, huh? That must be Hagrid, so what or who is little death?

_You._

Death? Why am I death? And why am I a little death? I'll have you know I'm at a perfectly normal height for my age.

_Hunger._

Right, first things first. I cast the hovering charm on Hagrid and put him back in his bed. I wrote a note explain that I was taking the Dragon to feed and I'd be back in a few hours. I didn't think he'd even get up before I got back but hopefully if he did wake up this would keep him from running into the school screaming about the Dragon.

I used one of his knives to pin the note to the door and, after using the cloak to turn invisible, left.

**888**

Making it to the Room was an exercise in keeping calm. Keeping my pace calm and steady so I didn't start running. Keeping the Dragon calm so she didn't start trying to eat the other students. Calmly waiting in alcoves for the student traffic to thin out enough for me to not bump into people. Calming myself anytime I felt the urge to start laughing at the absurdity of my situation.

That last bit was difficult, I was sneaking a starving Dragon into a school full of delicious morsels so she could eat to her hearts content on magical constructs. To say I was feeling stressed was something of an understatement.

About half way up the stairs I remembered I had a broom and got it out only to discover that the dragon had drained it already. I glared at her, "Really!?"

_Hunger. _

I sighed and started making my way up again. Carefully dodging this way and that to avoid students and Professors.

After what seemed like hours I made it to the painting of dancing trolls and across from it a small discoloration in the stone work that was all but invisible to the naked eye. I carefully looked around to make sure no one was around before pressing it casing a door to appear. I let myself in and made my way over to the small arena.

"Don't just hide, move from cover to cover or the golem will find you." Pansy said from her place at the podium. Hermione was fighting a level two wanded golem and having a hard time of it. Level two golems hit harder and faster than level ones and they moved around, staying well out of reach. Forcing you to either immobilize them or quickly drop their shields, before finishing them.

The golem was alternating between destroying Hermione's transfigured walls and searching around for Hermione, who had likely disillusioned herself at some point, because I couldn't see her anywhere. I was about to interrupt, the Dragon was staring at Pansy and licking her lips, when Hermione screamed out.

"_Bombarda_!" the shout came from just behind the golem, it spun around just in time to violently explode. Hermione faded into view, slumped on the ground. "Ha!" Pride and exhaustion fought for dominance on her face, pride won out.

I pulled the cloak off and spoke up. "Pansy please get Hermione out of there." Before I could even finished speaking she had turned around and was staring at the Dragon.

"What the…" Pansy started, her eyes wide.

"Just get Hermione out of there please, the Dragon's hungry." She stared at me blankly. "Please!" I didn't quite shout but it was a close thing.

She nodded and flat out sprinted to Hermione, threw her over her shoulder and ran out. Only stopping when she was near the track, a considerable distance from the arena.

I quickly set the podium to send out a level one sword golem and jumped inside before the shield could come up. The golem entered and assumed a ready stance, sword carefully positioned to block incoming spells.

I pointed to it and said one word. "Food."

The Dragon launched herself from my shoulders with such force I actually fell over. The Dragon landed and blurred over to the golem and lunged at the golem, dodging the downward strike of its sword and curled around its throat. A second later the golem dropped. Soon after it started fading, before disappearing entirely.

"Alex, what in Merlin's name is going on?" Hermione demanded from the podium, Pansy stood next to her.

"The egg hatched…"

"We figured that out!" Pansy said, her eyes wide as she stared at the Dragon.

"…and the Dragon tried to eat my magic and I convinced her to try eating golems instead." I said, keeping an eye on the Dragon as she made her way over to me.

_Little Death. Hungry!_

I nodded. "Pansy can you have another golem or three come in, she's still hungry." When they just stood there I made a hurry up motion with my hand. "Now please." Pansy mechanically reached down and fiddled with the controls. The dragon took off for the incoming golems and I turned to face my friends. "Thanks!" I tried for nonchalant, the sounds of the Dragon killing golems took away from my credibility.

Pansy's eyes never left the Dragon but Hermione kept opening her mouth to speak but nothing ever came out.

Hermione finally decided what to say. "You speak dragon?"

I shrugged. "Kind of, it's more like she projecting her thoughts at me."

"Oh." Hermione looked pained. "Of course, she just projects her thoughts at you. Makes perfect sense."

I gave her a concerned look. "Hermione are you alright?"

She started laughing, it had a hysterical edge to it. "Yes I'm fine." Sure you are Ms. Crazy, but rather than say that I just nodded in agreement. The Dragon finished with the golems and made her way over to me.

_Little Death. Good hunt! Full._

"You're full?" I asked bending over to look her in the face. The Dragon nodded and jumped onto my shoulders. After she got settled I stood and faced Pansy and Hermione. "You know we need something to call you, I can only think of you as 'The Dragon' so many times before it gets tedious."

_Vivavax_.

"Vivavax, huh? Nice name, why'd you choose that?" I asked as I started walking towards my friends.

_Progenitor._

"You didn't, your dad did? So who's your dad?"

_Ferrovax_.

My heart skipped a beat and color drained from my face. "Oh." It suddenly hit me that this wasn't just a dragon, she was a _Dragon_. A baby Dragon certainly, but still a Dragon. Of course her father would be a Dragon as well.

I made it out of the arena and slumped onto the spectator's bench, situated next to the podium.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Pansy asked as she joined me on the bench. Hermione slid in on my other side.

"Vivavax just told me who her dad is." I said. Death by Dragon would probably be quick wouldn't it? I mean as far as they're concerned were just uppity monkeys, no reason to torture a monkey is there?

Pansy and Hermione traded looks before Hermione asked. "Who's her dad?"

"Ferrovax." My voice was a whisper, and yet the room still seemed to shake with the weight of his Name.

Hermione froze and Pansy started chocking on nothing.

Hermione's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Oh, that's not good."

"We're all dead." Pansy finally said.

"Probably." I agreed. Ferrovax was the oldest and the strongest of the Dragons. He was at least a peer of Mab, the Winter Queen, and in no way impressed by mortals and our accomplishments. To fight him was as hopeless as outrunning light or drinking an ocean. "Is there ketchup at Hogwarts?"

"What's ketchup?" Pansy asked.

Hermione dropped her head into her hands. "No, there's no ketchup at Hogwarts, and you are not funny." Yes, yes I am.

I continued as if I hadn't heard her. "I mean, if he's going to eat us we may as well make sure we taste good." I heard Hermione start explaining the joke to Pansy. "If we don't have any ketchup maybe he'd like some mustard? If not, gravy is always good, but I draw the line at horse radish. I hate that stuff."

_Little Death. Princess Night. Knowledge Keeper. Frightened. Explain._

I gave Vivavax an inquiring look, "We're scared because we think your dad's going to kill us."

"What's going on?" Pansy asked.

"Vivavax just asked why we're frightened." I explained giving her and Hermione considering looks. It seemed obvious who the Knowledge Keeper was, but Princess Night seemed an odd title for Pansy.

Vivavax responded quite empathetically. _Negation. Little Death…Nest Mate._

I furred my brow, there was some hesitation when she said nest mate. As if she wanted to say something else. "Your dad won't kill me because I'm a dragon?"

I got a sense of exasperation from her. _Negation…Nest Mate._

There was that hesitation again, "Ok, not a dragon then, but what's a nest mate?" I asked, but she seemed done answering my questions because she chose that moment to go to sleep. "Right then, very informative."

"Alex?" Hermione asked, I looked at her curiously. "Did she call you a nest mate?" I nodded.

"Why? Is that important?" I asked.

Hermione blinked. "Didn't I tell you earlier? I could have sworn I told you when we were still researching dragons."

"No?" I responded. I didn't remember anything like that.

"It's what the Dragons call people they invite to their lands, it's a huge honor. There's only been three in the last century." Pansy answered, Hermione shot her an annoyed look but nodded in agreement.

That actually gave me an idea. "Who was the last person who got invited?" if it was who I thought it was I might actually have a plan.

"Charlie Weasley." Hermione promptly answered.

"I think I have an idea." I said.

**888**

We left the Room and made our way to Hagrid's hut, arriving just as the sun set. From the woods we could hear a wolf howl, and abruptly cut off as something bigger and meaner made it dinner.

I shook my head. "You'd think the wolves would know better than to just announce their presence."

"Instinct is hard to ignore." Pansy said.

"Still, if it's still their instinct to howl, after how many generations in the Forbidden Forest, how are there still wolves in the forest?" I questioned as we neared the hut.

"The Ministry imports wolves to put in the forest, every fifty years or so." Hermione said, before knocking on Hagrid's door.

"Why?" I asked, that sounded like an exceedingly bad idea. Visions of giant mutated wolves danced in my mind.

"The book I read said it was to help cut down on some of the less dangerous monsters that keep coming out of the forest. Particularly the Du'nkel cat." When there wasn't an answer I opened the door to let us in. Hagrid was still asleep. "Should we wake him up?"

I shook my head. "No, we can let him sleep for an hour or so." He was at least as drained as I was after he tried to pull Vivavax off me, and I don't think she gave him much back.

"What's a Du'nkel cat?" Pansy asked as we sat at the table.

"It's a cat like animal that has a natural shadow veil, that is, they appear as cat shaped shadows." Hermione grimaced as she continued. "They build their numbers by killing and eating anything they can bring down, and I mean anything, dogs, bears, Acromantulas or wizards. Once the Du'nkel cats have built up their number they go after bigger game."

"Bigger game?" What bigger game than wizards? Bigger wizards?

"Once ya get enough of um together they start going after small towns." Hagrid answered, his voice scratchy. "Wolves love them, Du'nkel's their favorite prey." He sat up slowly, as if he wasn't sure he should be able to move. "What hit me?"

I pointed to my shoulders where Vivavax was sleeping. "Vivavax was really hungry." She just kept sleeping.

Hagrid's eyes went wide and he jumped to his feet and slowly made his way over his hand out stretched. "Oh my, you're a pretty dragon. Aren't you?"

Before he could touch her I interrupted. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, unless you want another nap."

He stopped short. "What do ya mean?"

"She means if you touch the dragon she will start draining your magic, like she did to us when we tried." Pansy said, a touch bitterly. She and Hermione had both tried to touch Vivavax, but as soon as they touched her they lost feeling in their arms and said they felt like they had just spent an hour dueling.

"But that'd mean…" He stared at Vivavax, something like horror on his face.

I nodded and finished his sentence. "She's a Dragon. Uppercases make all the differences don't they?" honestly I had expected him to still want to try and keep her, but if the look on his face was any indication I wouldn't have to work too hard to convince him.

He fell into the remaining chair, it groaned but held, causing the table to shake. "We got to get Dumbledore, he can fix this." Desperation and fear dripped from his words. He dropped his head in his hands. "He's going to be so disappointed. I just wanted a dragon, was that so bad?"

"Maybe we don't need to get Dumbledore involved." Pansy reassured him, when he gave her a hopeful look she continued, pointing at me. "Ice Queen here has a plan."

He turned to me. "You said you were friends with Charlie Weasley right?" Hagrid had only mentioned Charlie off hand, once, but I doubted he'd remember that.

"Aye, I am." He agreed.

"Ok, so here's my plan. You Owl him and say that someone gave you an egg and you thought it was a Cockatrice egg but when it hatched a dragon came out, and if he or someone he knows could come and take it so you don't get in trouble."

"I don't want to get Charlie in trouble," He scowled, "and he knows I can tell the difference between a Cockatrice egg and a dragon egg. He'll know I'm lying."

I nodded, "That's the plan, he knows you always wanted a dragon so he'll know to keep it quiet, and only involve people he can trust." At least I hoped he would, otherwise Hogwarts was about to become a crater when Ferrovax came for his kid. "Hopefully he can slip her in without anyone noticing."

"And if he can't?" Hagrid asked.

"He'll be returning a Dragon to them. That should make him like a hero, don't you think?" Hermione interjected. I certainly hoped so, Charlie's position would afford him some protection. Whether or not it would be enough, I wasn't sure but, the only over plans I could think of ended with Hagrid and I dead. So it wasn't like I was spoiled for choice.

Hagrid reluctantly nodded, "I suppose." He stood and gathered some writing supplies. "Now how should I put this?"

Pansy leaned forward, "Alright, here's what you should say…"

**888**

Hagrid had sent off the letter and had the house-elves deliver us some food for dinner. Thankfully Hermione hadn't yet connected house-elves with forced servitude just yet, I was not looking forward to the day she did.

After we ate, I decided it was best if I stayed in the hut tonight. If I tried to sleep in the Ravenclaw dorms, and Vivavax got hungry I was liable to wake up to a tower of corpses. I left that explanation out when I explained why it was better for me to stay here, but my friends were nobody's fools, they saw the danger even without me spelling it out for them. Which is why they decided to stay with me and no amount of arguing would convince them otherwise.

It was well past midnight now and Hagrid was fast asleep in his wooden arm chair, Pansy and Hermione were passed out on the bed. I was sitting at the foot of the bed unable to sleep and Vivavax was curled in my lap, either asleep or content to simply lay there.

You'd think a Dragon would feel uncomfortable, that her spikes would pinch and poke, but you'd be wrong. Even though I swear she had to have grown since she fed, she fit comfortably. I ran my hand down her spine before deciding that if I wasn't going to sleep I may as well get something useful done. I closed my eyes and focused inward.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

Finding my mindscape the first time had been the work of months, and while it still took me a few minutes to get there, I could now get there reliably. Before my first trip there it was if I was searching blindly in the dark, wandering the endless corridors of my subconscious for my target, now I knew the path and I walked it confidently.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I opened my eyes and found myself in my favorite lazy-boy. I stood and made my way to the back yard, studiously avoiding looking at the blackout curtain and the horror it concealed.

It was well lit in this section of my mindscape, as opposed to the near permanent night that the forest had started to develop, so when I stepped outside I could clearly see the new addition.

An addition that should not be there. The house was mine, it was the house of my childhood it was where I had grown up. That my mindscape had manifested as it was not surprising and I knew the wolf and its forest came from being influenced by the hexan-wolf necklace, but everything else was something I had made to help defend my mind.

Like the ominous, and absolute, darkness that surrounded my mindscape. To get to the mindscape proper you would have to walk through it, while keeping to a very specific pace and avoid the monsters that called it home. If you couldn't find and stay on the path you would wonder the darkness blindly, until the monsters got you.

At least that was the plan for it, right now it was just very dark. I was still working on it, adding permanent additions to a mindscape was a difficult and involved process. It took time, most of which I had been committing to school and learning to defend myself in the real world.

Which begged the question…

"Why is there a volcano in my head?" I asked myself bewildered. In the distance, beyond and to the right of the forest, sat an absolutely huge volcano, an active volcano at that.

From where I stood, just outside my house, the volcano stood ten times higher than the tallest tree in the forest. Rivers of lava ran down its sides in curling serpentine flows, smoke and ash spewed from it, darkening the sky to an, almost alien, orange-ish color.

"Well that's not ominous at all." There was a shadow moving above the volcano, a dragon, as soon as I saw it a roar issued forth. Blasting apart the smoke, giving me a brief glimpse of the dragon, it was hidden again only seconds later but I did see a large form.

I saw the effects of the roar before I actually heard it, the volcano shook and the flow of lava increased. Going from a steady flow to a surge of molten rock. The roar hit the forest and trees fell, and fake woodland animals burst apart. When it finally reached me the windows exploded, peppering my back with glass shards and sending me to the ground. I lay there stunned for a long moment, getting my bearings, before I managed to push myself up.

I took in the damage the roar cased, the widows were completely destroyed and the outer brick work was cracked. More than that there were shards of glass embedded in my back and blood was running out of my ears.

The damage to the house was easy to fix, a wave of my hand and a bit of focus and it was done. My injuries took a lot more concentration.

After fixing the house I sat on the ground and tried to get comfortable, trying to focus on healing. Which is harder than it sounds, I was technically already meditating, and finding your center, while already being there, was surprisingly difficult. Still, after a while, I managed. Blood stopped oozing, my wounds mended and I could hear again.

I stood and saw the forest was burning, not all of it just the part where the woods met the rocky lands of the volcano. The dragon was trying to expand, to take over.

Soul Gazes did not cause this, not on their own, and according to what I've read, my reaction to the hexan-wolf talisman was extreme. So, what the _hell_ is up with my mind?

The dragon roared again, pulling me from my thoughts. It was nowhere near as loud but more trees toppled and the fires started spreading.

I needed to stop this before I could get to the bottom of the extremely my messed up mindscape. ("Alex Potter and the Mysterious Case of the No Good, Very Bad Mindscape.")

I left my backyard and entered the forest.

"Wolf!" I could make my way through the forest by myself but it would take time. Wolf may have submitted but this was still her forest, she was much more comfortable here than I was.

There was a nearly silent rustle of noise, if I had not been waiting for it the roar of the fire would have drowned it out, and Wolf appeared. She seemed to know what I had in mind because she crouched and let me get on her back.

I barely had time to grab fistfuls of fur before she was off, at first on the ground but she quickly started going up. Jumping from branch to branch and, at one point, running straight up a tree that didn't have any branches.

As we ran the smoke grew thicker and, as when I looked down I saw lava crawling across the ground. The trees in front of were noticeably shorter, and getting shorter still as they kept sinking into the molten rock below.

If this was the real world the heat from the lava would have been more than enough to kill us, and the trees would have all been on fire. As it was the forest was resisting the intrusion. The trees were hesitant to catch fire and the lava was flowing much slower than it should.

We reached the edge of the forest and Wolf jumped, launching us through the air over a lake of lava. We landed nearly a fourth of the way up the volcano. Wolf threw her head back and howled a challenge, daring the dragon to come face us.

The dragon's response nearly killed the both of us.

A pillar of lava raised from the behind us and tore me off the Wolf and slammed me into the side of the volcano.

Pain isn't nearly as intense in my mindscape as it was in the real world and it takes more a lot more for me to even feel it in the first place. When I was fighting Wolf, and she broke my neck it hurt but more like I had badly stubbed my toe, nowhere near as bad as it should have. Keeping all that in mind, I am being entirely truthful when I say that this was the most painful experience in my life so far.

Tons of pressure and an indescribable heat ripped at me tearing a scream from my throat. Molten rock rushed down my throat, cooking me inside and out. I felt myself melting, bits and pieces of my slouched off as the lava claimed me. One horrifying moment at a time.

I was in far too much pain to even think, the dragon had planned well. This was how I died.

Or it would have been if Wolf hadn't found me.

I wasn't even aware I was moving at first, the feeling if Wolf's mouth clamped on my arm was completely drowned out by the fiery burn of the lava. I only noticed after the wolf finished dragging me out and dropped down next to me.

How I could still see I didn't know, but I could and Wolf looked like hell. Her fur was completely gone, lava dripped from empty eye sockets and most of her muscles were burned away leaving a charred skeleton with bits of burnt meat hanging off it.

I can't imagine I looked much better.

I tried to talk, but nothing came out. So I settled for reaching out to pet her, ignoring the fact that my arm was far too skinny and dark. I ran my, perfectly fine, arm down Wolf's side to convey my gratitude, only to pull my hand back when I noticed the charred flesh was getting pinker and expanding, Wolf was healing. I smiled, well I tried, it was hard to smile without lips.

I was about to try and heal myself when I noticed a shape in the clouds. The Dragon was coming to finish the job. Instead of trying to move, because I couldn't, I waited for it to come.

I got my first clear look at the Dragon as it broke through the clouds. She was huge, at least as long as a football field and a dark, almost purple, red, with twin horns and teeth as big as I was.

She was aimed straight for me, she clearly thought I was already beat, I readied myself.

Two hundred yards.

I clinched my fist.

A hundred.

Not yet.

Fifty.

Nearly there.

Thirty.

NOW!

I thrust my arm out and a jagged pillar of rock sprouted from the side of the volcano, hitting the Dragon in her chest and going through it, straight out the back.

She kept fighting, her powerful forelegs gripped the rock pillar and started crushing it. Before she could break out though I threw both of my hands out in a grasping motion and two large rock hands grew out of the volcano and gripped the Dragons wings, pulling them tight.

I did that again and again, for her all of her limbs and finally for her neck as well. I forced her to look at me, and formed a word in the rock above me.

**Surrender!**

She started struggling harder and clinched my fist, casing the rock hand to squeeze her neck harder. Once she stilled I pointed her at the volcano again.

**Surrender!**

This time she responded with lava, it came from all around. Enough to drown a small city.

I focused, the lava turned to rock and fell to the ground harmlessly.

I glared at the dragon and tore off her wings, she thrashed and tried to scream but my grip on her neck was too tight, only whimpers escaped.

I maneuvered her head to look me straight in the eyes and I focused on all the pain she had caused me and glared at her, letting her see that I was more than willing to kill her. Once I judged that I had conveyed my meaning sufficiently, I added something to the side of the volcano.

**Last Chance. Surrender!**

There was a long pause as she stared at me before she closed her eyes and nodded. I focused and a dragon sized collar appeared around her neck and I released her. The rock face changed again.

**I'm the boss, as long as you accept that then we'll get along just fine.**

She nodded.

**Good**.

That done, I closed my eyes and focused on healing.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: I would like to thank my new Beta reader Cat, and if you think this chapter flows better, than you should thank Cat too.**

**Chapter 19:**

**Mummy, Charlie Bit Me.**

It took a long while for me to heal. Not simply because my wounds were extensive, because they were, nor was it because I was tired, though again that was true. The reason it took me so long to heal was because I was avoiding returning to the real world.

The fight with the dragon had been intense, certainly I had never hurt quite as much as I had then, but it was a fight I knew I would win. Either because of my fight with Wolf a month earlier, or because of how every work of fiction I had ever read that had a fight in the hero's mind had the hero triumph when they realized that it was _their_ mind they were fighting in.

Whatever the reason, I never doubted the result of my fight with the dragon. The potential fight with Ferrovax, on the other hand, was something I knew we could never win. Sure, we had a plan to side-step having to deal with him, and it even had a fair chance of working. But if it didn't, I would die.

Worse my friends might die.

Wolf stood, whole once more, and nudged me with her nose. I scratched her behind her left ear, just like she liked it. "I'm fine, just worried." She licked my face before nuzzling me. "Thanks, I needed that." I stood and stretched. "Time to get back."

Wolf knelt and I was about to get on when I felt a small breeze. I looked over at the dragon and noticed that she had also healed and was subtly flexing her new wings and giving me an expectant look.

I blinked, "Seriously?" She nodded and lowered herself to the ground. I turned to give Wolf an incredulous look, only to do a double take when I noticed she had already gotten on the dragon's back and was giving me an impatient look. "Already made friends, have you?" The dragon gave a pained whimper at my tone and Wolf gave me a look she must have practiced on particularly slow cubs.

"What? Just because I like you now doesn't mean I have to like her!" I defended myself. Why I felt like I had to defend myself I have no idea. Lava really hurt and she had hit me with a lot of lava.

A sound that reminded me of a sputtering diesel engine came from the dragon. It took me a moment to realize she was crying. Wolf patted her back comfortingly and bared her teeth at me chidingly.

I sighed before walking over to the dragon and hugging her. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed." It was a struggle to get that out, because as soon as I touched her I could feel what she represented.

Protection, Destruction, and Greed.

She stopped crying and gave me an inquiring look, "Yes, I mean it." She actually shook with happiness. I sighed and got on her back. Great, a bipolar dragon. Just what I needed.

The flight to my house was blessedly short.

**888**

I woke find Vivavax's head right in front of my face.

_Little Death, I am hungry._

I blinked. That was surprisingly articulate. "Hungry?" It was still pitch-black outside.

_More Food! _

"What's the magic word?" I asked softly.

Vivavax cocked her head to the side. _Confusion_.

I sighed, "Never mind." Explaining the concept of please and thank you was more work than I wanted to get into this late at night.

_Please? Thank you?_

Right, mind-reader. "If you want something from someone, then you say please, and if they do something for you, you say thank you."

_Please, more food. Thank you._

"Good enough. Let's get you some food, shall we?" She jumped on my shoulders and got comfortable. I stood and nearly fell over. Yep, she's definitely gotten bigger.

Everyone was still asleep, so I wrote a note and left.

This late, or early depending on how you measure it, there was no one around. Even the late-night patrols had gone to bed by now, leaving everything quiet. If it were anywhere else it would have been unnerving. No one around, almost no light, shapes moving in the portraits and suits of armor. It should have been creepy, but it was hard to feel anything other than safe at Hogwarts.

I was passing through the last hallway before I got to the stairwell when I heard a low murmur.

_…vă rugăm să-i fie cea._

It got louder as I went down the corridor until I finally came to a partially opened door.

_mare o am pleda, vă rugăm să-i fie cea._

I crept closer and looked in. It was dark, completely dark, except for a pair of candles in front of Quirrell. He was kneeling on the floor facing the door. He traced a shape on the floor before repeating himself.

_mare o am pleda, vă rugăm să-i fie cea_

In front of him was a small idol. It sat between the two candles with a staff held above its head with its upper pair of arms, and a pair of blades in its other arms, with a cape hanging off its shoulders. To cap off the look it had a truly disturbing mask with more teeth than it had any right to. It would have looked vaguely Hindu if it had more color. As it was the idol was completely black except for its teeth, which were stark white.

It was also staring at me, because for some reason Quirrell was kneeling facing the idol's back, so it was facing the door.

_moarte mare doamnă, eu sunt instrumentului de voinței tale. Direct mine și i se va realiza tot ce doriti._

He traced a line on the floor and stood. I backed away from the door and hid behind one of the nearby suits of armor, not so much to hide, because I was already using the cloak, but to keep Quirrell from running into me.

I heard him say something else and then the door swung open. I waited for him to walk by, but I saw nothing. I frowned. Where was he, and what the hell was that?

_Gone. A Prayer._

I started slightly when Vivavax spoke up. I gave her a look. What?

_It was a Prayer and he left._

Quirrell was praying? Why would he be praying? Voldemort never struck me as someone who would submit to any higher power. His ego was too big. Not that I had any proof that he was actually possessed by Voldemort, and this did seem to be a mark against that theory. If Quirrell really wasn't possessed by Voldemort, then who was? Was Voldemort even here?

I sighed despondently. The more I learned the less it seemed I knew.

_Little Death, I'm hungry, please food. Thank you._

Vivavax sounded so sincere I couldn't help but smile as I responded. One moment, please.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I case my senses out to make sure Quirrell was gone. I found nothing but what might be the remnants of a spell. I couldn't tell which one it was but, I got a feeling of ignorance from it. I pulled back and frowned. An avoidance spell? If it was, why hadn't it gotten to me?

_Please! Food! Thank you._

Right, let's go.

I left and made my way to the seventh floor without further incident.

**888**

I was standing at the podium waiting for Vivavax to finish off her current golem, this was her sixth one and they were disappearing faster than yesterday.

My mind, though, was on other matters.

Quirrell had religion. It was another in a long list of items that pointed to him not being Voldemort in disguise. It was disturbing, all my foreknowledge pointed to him being possessed by Voldemort, but the evidence... well, the evidence said otherwise.

He didn't stutter, I never noticed Professor Snape confronting him — though that may just be because I never saw it, not because it never happened — my cursed scar never hurt when he was around, and I never felt Voldemort's magic on or around him. Not that he couldn't have found a way to hide his magic, but with everything else it certainly seemed as if he wasn't Voldemort. Quirrell certainly creeped me out, but how much of that was because of me thinking he's creepy and how much of that was because he was actually creepy?

If Quirrell wasn't Voldemort, then who was? Was Voldemort actually here? The Stone certainly seemed to be here. Fluffy was here and Dumbledore had made his 'Extremely painful death warning' at the start of the year, which meant that the Philosopher's Stone was most likely here and that was certainly a prize worthy of any Dark Lord.

The Philosopher's Stone, the _pinnacle_ of alchemy, a blood red stone capable of turning lead into gold. Useful in and of itself, but its true value came from its use as a potions ingredient.

Using the Stone as a reagent, a skilled potions maker could brew the Elixir of Life, which was exactly what it sounded like. Anyone who drank the elixir would be restored. No matter your age or physical condition, if you drank it you would be healed. Even if you had never done more than sit on your ass and eat, it would turn your body into its best possible shape.

It was a prize worth killing for. It was a prize _many_ had died trying to obtain, which was another wrinkle in my theory. A lot of people had tried to steal the Stone from the Flamels, and the Flamels were still here, so why had Dumbledore been entrusted to hide the Stone from Voldemort? There was no way he was that much more capable than they were.

None of this was adding up, and…

_Little Death, I want more!_

During my mental wanderings Vivavax had managed to finish off the last few golems and make her way out of the arena, and was now crouching on top of the podium, giving me an eager look.

"You're still hungry?" I asked, slightly incredulous. Yesterday she had eaten four golems and seemed full. Now she was six golems in and seemed ready for six more. She nodded eagerly.

_Please, more food, thank you._

I laughed, "Ok, how many do you want?"

She cocked her head to the side consideringly before nodding. _All of them_.

I raised my brow, "Really? All of them?" There were seven of them left, two with staves and five with swords.

_Yes!_

"Well, alright." She launched herself off the podium, doing a pirouette in the process, and landed in the middle if the arena. She crouched, head down and wings slightly open, eyes focused on the golems waiting outside the arena.

I fiddled with the controls and sent the remaining golems in. The sword golems entered first and started charging Vivavax.

I frowned, they should not be charging. Level ones do not charge. I glanced down at the podium and slammed my hand on the stop button when I saw that all the golems had been set to level three.

The golems were still charging and the staff users were hitting her with beams of fire. Vivavax was ignoring them, the beams were absorbed as soon as they hit her. As the sword golems got close she launched herself at the leading golem, only to get smacked aside as it slashed its sword at her, sending her tumbling. She hit the ground hard but was up in a flash and started running away.

I swallowed, the golems were supposed to stop if you surrendered but they were also supposed to stop if you hit the stop button. If they didn't stop and Vivavax died we could say goodbye to Hogwarts. Hell, we could say goodbye to all of Great Britain.

I had to stop this, but how? The podium wasn't working. Vivavax must have drained it when she landed on it, and while the shield was up I couldn't get in.

I jabbed my wand at the arena shield and pushed as much magic as I could at it. "_Bombarda!_" The curse hit the shield and was completely absorbed. I leaned against the podium, winded. Dammit!

Vivavax was still running, but the sword golems were getting closer. The lead golem put in a burst of speed and swung its sword at her. Vivavax jumped to the side at the last second, only just managing to avoid the strike.

I hit the stop button again and this time something happened. The golems didn't stop, but the shield flashed before disappearing.

I grinned before reaching into my robe and gripping my cloak, relishing the sensation of it slithering up my arm and over the rest of me. Soon I was completely invisible.

First things first, I had to deal with the staff golems. Vivavax could ignore their spells, but I couldn't, and helping her was out of the question until they were dealt with.

One of the first staff golems was right by the podium. I walked up behind it and whispered, "_Bombarda_." The spell was visible as it shot out of my wand and caused the golem's head to explode.

Before now I had only fought level two golems, and their response to my cloak was to stop doing anything. A response I had thought the level three golems would mimic.

They did not. Apparently the response level threes employ to a comrade suddenly dropping dead was to saturate the area with as much spellfire as possible. As soon as the headless golem started dropping, three sword golems stopped chasing Vivavax, reached into the bags at their belts, withdrew knives and lobbed them in my direction. The staff golem, not to be outdone, sent a gust of wind at me, turning the knives from merely fast to something approaching hypersonic.

Thankfully, as soon as they had stopped chasing Vivavax, I had dropped to the ground and started crawling away. The knives missed me, but the gust of wind still managed to smack into me hard enough to flip me over.

I scrambled to my feet and, keeping well away from the approaching sword golems, started for the last staff user. It had returned to firing at Vivavax. I stopped twenty yards away and palmed one of my throwing knives. I took aim and threw it for all I was worth. About halfway to its target the knife became visible, but the golem was too occupied to notice and it hit home, sinking nearly hilt deep in the golem's throat.

Before it could start dropping, I summoned my knife back and turned away. The knife slammed into my hand and I took in the rest of the arena.

The three golems that had gone over to the first downed golem had turned around and thrown some more knives, but as I was nowhere near their target I wasn't worried. The two still chasing Vivavax had stopped to try and find the new threat and that was when she struck.

Vivavax jumped onto the nearest one's shoulders and bit clean through its throat. Before the other one could react she repeated the process.

As she was doing that I targeted the last three. "_Magnus Glacices," _The best part about this spell is that it was invisible, there was no beam of light or spell that flew from your wand. You pointed, waved your wand, said the words, and the effects started happening. Perfect for an invisible fighter like myself.

I only managed to catch one of the golems with it. The other two jumped out of the way as soon as the ice started crawling up the middle one's legs. The golem who had jumped to the left was just pushing itself up when Vivavax ran over and bit its neck.

"_Magnus Glacices," _I targeted the only golem still moving and caught it as it turned to try and swing its sword at Vivavax. She dodged the swing and jumped at its throat, leaving only one golem still 'alive'. It was reaching for another knife when I hit it with a _Bombarda_ to the head.

I took a moment to catch my breath before pulling off my cloak and stuffing it in my robe. I walked over to where Vivavax was making the golems disappear.

_Great hunt, Little Death! Thank you!_

I felt my eye twitch, "You almost got stabbed!"

_Fun!_

I sighed and went to go lie down on the bench, I was far too tired to deal with this. Vivavax finished with the golems and tried to lie down on top of me. Apparently an all magic diet is good for the body, because this last feeding had pushed her from just small enough for her body to fit in my lap to big enough that I could conceivably ride her into battle.

My feet would drag on the floor, but still.

"You're too big to lay on me," I said, as I tried to stop her from doing just that.

She got a determined look on her face. _Please lap! Thank you!_

I sighed, again. So tired. "Fine, but just your head."

She made a happy noise and got on the bench, laying her head on me. I laid back and tried to sleep. My mind drifted in that hazy place between wakefulness and sleep. It was nice, peaceful even, and I was nearly asleep when Hermione decided to show up.

"Did she get bigger?" Hermione asked. I made no move to respond. As tired and irritable as I felt I was likely to say something…_regrettable_. "That bench can't be comfortable."

I will not stab my friend. Friends are not for stabbing, no matter how much you want them to shut up and let you sleep.

Hermione sighed, "Well, if you're that tired, I guess I can wait to tell you that Charlie Owl'd back."

I reluctantly opened my eyes, "Really? That was fast." Really fast. Too fast, maybe?

Hermione shook her head, "Not really. Post Owls are bred to use the Nevernever to get all around the world. Getting from here to Canada and back is well within their capabilities."

Even as tired as I was, that surprised me. The Nevernever is the spirit world, or more accurately, it is all the spirit worlds. Heaven, Hell, the Underworld, Valhalla, and, most closely linked to our world, Faerie. They all existed within the Nevernever.

If you knew what you were doing you could open a Way into the Nevernever in London, walk for a bit, open another Way, and step out in Arizona or Siberia. It was dangerous, incredibly so, but undeniably useful.

I blinked, sitting up and absently stocked Vivavax's head. "Isn't the Nevernever dangerous?"

Hermione nodded, "Very, but the modern Post Owl is descended from an owl native to the Nevernever. They know how to get around safely."

"Oh," I said. I know I'm so articulate. "So what did he say?"

"Charlie?" Hermione asked. I nodded. "That he would be here tonight and to meet him in the forest by Hagrid's hut."

Not the Astronomy tower? "The Forbidden Forest? How is he getting here?" The forest was dangerous enough, I shuddered to think about what was on the other side of it in the Nevernever.

"Apparently the Dragon Lands have an entrance in the forest." Hermione said.

"Huh." Really, that said all I needed to say. I looked at Vivavax, "Hear that? You'll be home in no time." No response. She had fallen asleep.

"Do you really think this will work?" Hermione asked, looking concerned.

"I hope so," I said. "I really do." Because if it didn't there wouldn't be enough of us left to mop up.

**888**

I had Hermione go let the others know that we would be down in a few hours, and then Vivavax and I — _finally_ — got some sleep. After our nap I let her feed on a few more golems before we started for Hagrid's hut.

Getting down was a challenge. Vivavax was officially too big for me to carry and she just absorbed disillusionment charms, so I had to ride on top of her to keep her invisible. It was an experience, one that passed without incident.

Well, without incident, barring Vivavax bumping into Sally-Anne Perks. She was walking around by herself and Vivavax took a corner too quickly and ran into her. She was fine, just drained, so I levitated her to a window alcove and arranged her so it looked like she just fell asleep. Had it been anyone else I would have felt a little bad, and honestly I still felt a little bad, but it was just Perks. That lazy, no good…

Anyway, after that we made it to Hagrid's hut without further problems.

I tried to read to distract myself from tonight, but I found my mind wandering around in circles. Would this work? Would Charlie get in trouble? If so, how much? Should we have gone to Dumbledore?

On and on my mind went.

Hagrid was no better. He spent the day alternatively pacing and whittling. By the time we finally left he had a small collection of half-finished wooden figurines.

I rode Vivavax until we were a good way into the woods, following behind Hagrid, with Pansy and Hermione walking just to my left. Once we were far enough in, I got off Vivavax and pulled off my cloak.

"When did he say he'd be here?" I asked, breath misting in the cold air. It was solidly in spring now, but the Forbidden Forest seemed to have missed that memo.

"Charlie said he'd be at eight," Hagrid answered. He was glancing around nervously, the forest didn't bother him, but clandestine meetings weren't his thing.

I was about to ask what time it was, but Pansy beat me to the punch. "It's only 7:40, we have a lot of time before we have to start worrying." She was leaning against Hermione, the cold air getting to her.

I was about to say something, but stopped when I felt a change in the air. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Hermione asked, looking around. She furrowed her brow, "Do you smell that?"

Pansy took a deep breath and suddenly look nervous, "Sulfur."

I was about to respond when a red head walked into our small clearing.

"Charlie!" Hagrid boomed happily, and started for him, but before he get close Vivavax charged him.

_Father!_

Father? My eyes went wide. "Hagrid, wait!" He froze, watching as what must have been Ferrovax himself caught Vivavax as she jumped at him and brought her close in a hug. "Hagrid, that's not Charlie." Not unless Mrs. Weasley has been keeping secrets.

Hagrid took a step back, only to freeze along with the rest of us when Ferrovax raised his eyes to look at us. When he looked at you it was as if you were staring at the sun and it was staring right back. Hermione fainted and Hagrid followed suit a moment later.

Pansy was slowly inching back, sweat pouring down her brow, only to freeze when he rested his gaze on her. Ferrovax looked at her for a long moment before visible dismissing her and turning towards me.

My hind brain was screaming at me to run, to hide, to _do __something,__ just get __away!_ But I could do nothing. The weight of his gaze held me in place. The air seemed heavier, thicker somehow, as I struggled to stay upright. It was a losing battle. I fell to my knees, my eyes never leaving his.

I couldn't look away. I couldn't look away!_ I couldn't look away! _

A soundless voice gibbered in the back of my head. _Please look away, please _God _look away._ Tears streamed down my face.

I started mouthing words. _Please, I'm so sorry, God, I'm so sorry, so sorry._

I was close to breaking entirely when he finally spoke.

"You know who I am." It wasn't a question, I nodded anyway. "You know what I am. I require an answer and you will give it to me. Is that understood?" I hadn't stopped nodding. "Speak."

"Y-yes." My voice cracked as I answered.

"My daughter is not as she should be. Why?" Ferrovax asked.

"S-she hatched and tried to eat me," He arched his brow and I flinched, curling in on myself.

"Continue." His voice was calm, never once did he raise his voice. I was still frightened beyond measure.

"She had almost d-drained me when I tried to enter her mind to fight back," Ferrovax frowned, and I stopped breathing for a moment before I forced myself to continue. "I'm sorry but I was dying and I just wanted her to stop." He didn't respond so I kept going. "That started a Soulgaze."

Vivavax, who had been silent until now, spoke up_. Father stop, Little Death is Nest Mate._ Her tone, which usually reminded me of a small exuberant child, was very respectful.

He gave her a long look before nodding and turning back to me.

"You're the last Potter." Again, not a question. I nodded anyway. "I see." He inclined his head towards me slightly, _very_ slightly. I froze, before accidentally slamming my head on the ground in a poor attempt at a bow. I didn't look up again until Vivavax started speaking again.

_Wait! Little Death come with us._

I looked up and saw that Ferrovax had started walking away, only to pause as she spoke up. He glanced back at me and arched a brow questioningly. She jumped from his arms and made her way over to me. I hugged her close.

It was a struggle to talk, the air was still so thick, but I forced myself to speak.

"Vivavax," I said softly, "I can't leave my family." A small part of me was tempted, the chances of Voldemort getting to me while I was in Dragon lands was practically zero, but he could still go after my friends, my family.

_Please! Come, thank you!_

I smiled and reached into my shoe and pulled out the switchblade I had used to fight the Red Court vampire that had attacked me last summer. Keeping the blade closed I gave it to her. She gripped it in her claws before giving me a look.

"I can't come, but I want you to have this." She looked confused. "Humans don't have claws so we have to make our own, and this is my first one." I had gotten it with my own money. Cost me a pretty penny too. I had to buy it from a secondary school kid because I couldn't just go into a store and buy it on my own. "It was the first thing I bought on my own, with my money, and I want you to have it to remember me by, okay?"

She gave the knife a long look, before nodding decisively_. Okay._

Vivavax pulled away and joined her father. They walked into the forest, soon disappearing from sight.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

**The Great Reveal**

_?___

It is perhaps the greatest conceit of wanded wizards that they, almost to a one, solely practice wand magic. They forget, in their arrogance, that there are other forms of magic that do not require a wand. So it is that when they threaten a poor defenseless fortune teller, they forget that threatening someone who can see the future might be ill-advised.

"You said the dragon would kill her! Would kill all the mudbloods!" the woman known as Mary Hagglethorn screeched while brandishing her wand threateningly.

I pointedly ignored her and instead took a drag on my cigarette, only to stop and give it a considering look. Anny must have gotten the wrong brand again, she knows I prefer Benson &amp; Hedges. Ah well, needs must. I took another deep drag on the subpar brand before finally answering. "No, I said that the odds were good that the overgrown lizard would kill her. Not once did I say anything about it killing anyone else. That was all you, dear."

Mary screeched, "Do you know what I could have done with a Great Dragon? Do you know how much one is worth?" She looked around the small shop from which I did business and sniffed disdainfully. "No, of course you don't. And that doddering old fool is after me now. Why couldn't that moron have done his job right?"

I made an attempt to placate her, even though I knew it was hopeless. "I warned you that the bounty was an exceedingly bad idea. That you did not listen is no fault of mine. The odds were good that the Dragon would kill her, but it was not a sure thing, as I told you."

Mary sneered, twisting her lovely features into something ugly. "That whore was instrumental in my Lord's defeat. I shall not leave her death to chance. It's time I dealt with matters personally." She pointed her wand at me, a green light forming at its tip.

I smiled, "'I would like to remind you that killing me after pledging safe conduct would break the Accords.'" She hesitated, and I continued. "If you really want to kill her I have a suggestion." I indicated behind her.

Keeping her wand trained on me she slowly turned around and nearly froze when she noticed the assault rifles pointed at her. She may have been an arrogant fool, but you couldn't do business outside of her small wanded community without recognizing the danger they represented.

"Perhaps we can still help each other," the woman currently known as Mary Hagglethorn finally said. I took a final drag on my cigarette and smiled. Let's see how you handle this, Alex.

**888**

Alex

I took a deep breath of air, savoring the ease with which I was able to do so. I spent a long moment gathering myself before I looked around. Hagrid and Hermione were still out cold.

Pansy, her eyes wide, was gasping for breath and staring at me wide-eyed.

"Are you ok?" I asked, I tried to get to my feet but had to lean against a nearby tree to keep from falling over.

"You soulgazed a Dragon?" Pansy asked after she started breathing normally. She sounded like someone had told her Voldemort had given up the Dark Lord thing in favor of sewing.

"Yes?" I answered confused. "I mean I know it's rare for us to have one but it isn't unheard of."

"Dragons don't have souls," Pansy said, gravely.

I gave her a look of confusion, "What?"

"Humans have souls. It's what separates us from everything else!" Pansy exclaimed passionately. "Demons don't have souls, Sidhe don't have souls, Dragons do not have souls. It's the one thing that we have that makes us better than they are. They have power, more power than most of us could dream of, but we have souls. We have choice." She said choice like it was something holy.

I tried to process that. It sounded right, but if that was true, then… "How did I soulgaze Vivavax?"

"I don't know," Pansy made a frustrated noise. "Go over it again, slowly."

"The egg exploded and she came out and launched herself at me, you know, like she does with the golems? Anyway, she latched onto me and started draining me." I swallowed — I had never felt closer to death than I had then — before forcing myself to continue. "I felt my life leaving me, I could barely see, everything was going dark, and I knew if I didn't do anything I was going to die, but I couldn't move, I couldn't fight." I cleared my throat. "So I did the only thing I could think of. I gathered the last of my magic and pushed it out of my eyes to try and Legilimens her into stopping."

Pansy made her way over and sat next to me. "You can't forget a soulgaze. Can you tell me what you saw?" She pulled me into a half-hug.

Remember it? If I closed my eyes it was like I was still seeing it. That nearly endless void and the titanic aspects fighting it out. It was intense and beautiful. Never had I felt smaller or more awed.

As I relived it, I relayed my experience to Pansy before asking, "So, any ideas?"

She shook her head. "No, but Alex, we can't tell anyone about this. If anyone else found out, if they thought that you could ever replicate that, someone, something would take you and keep trying until it really did kill you."

I nodded, but shot a look at Hermione. I was already keeping secrets from my friends, and keeping more wasn't something I wanted to do. Besides, "Hermione can keep a secret."

Pansy got a frustrated look on her face before nodding. "Fine, we'll tell Hermione tomorrow, but for now we need to get them out of the forest.

We stood and got to work.

**888**

Hermione took the news about as well as I expected. That is, she had a small freak-out, calmed down, asked a dozen questions, got overexcited, calmed down again, and finally roped Pansy and I into a five-hour research binge.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I like reading. I even like learning about more obscure subjects, especially when they might help me find out how I managed to give a soulless being a soul, but five hours straight of reading text so small my eyes started hurting after the first hour was a little much.

Especially when it got us nowhere.

The only truly useful thing to come out of the situation was that I was able to determine, with a startling degree of certainty, that the Room's library lacked anything about Horcruxes.

The closest thing I found was the Soul Jar, similar to a Horcrux in that making one involved placing your soul in a container, but you could only do it once and, most importantly, Soul Jars were disgustingly vulnerable.

You needed specialized weapons to destroy a Horcrux, basilisk venom being the only reliable way as far as I could remember. With a Soul Jar all you needed to do was drop it on the floor. Not what I was looking for, but I noted it down for future reference.

Aside from that little gem, most of what I found was a whole lot of speculation and not a lot of evidence. Wizards liked to write about the soul but — aside from noting that humans had them — they were almost as much in the dark as the rest of the world.

"I can't find anything," I announced, shoving away from the table.

Pansy looked up blearily from her book before standing up and stretching. "Me neither."

Hermione sighed and put her book down reluctantly. "Nothing. As far as I can tell only humans and half humans have souls. There are no cases I can find where a fully non-human has a soul."

Pansy snorted, "Maybe Ice Queen made the Dragon part human?"

"Vivavax is no more human than I am Dragon," I said

"Well, you do have that dragon in your head. Maybe you are part Dragon?" Pansy said.

"Rawr," I said, deadpan.

Hermione blinked, "Alex, how big did you say your mindscape was?"

"With my house, the forest, and the volcano? Maybe fifty square miles or so?" I answered, after thinking on it for a moment. "Why, how big are yours?"

Pansy and Hermione exchanged looks.

"My mindscape is barely the size of my house," Pansy said.

"Mine is almost the whole of Ravenclaw tower," Hermione said. "Your mindscape is huge, and every time something like the Hexenwolf talisman happens, or when Vivavax almost ate all your magic, it gets bigger. Almost like it's trying to get bigger or stronger?"

"Ok, but what does that have to do with Viv having a soul?" I asked.

"Maybe you got some of her dragon-ness and she got some of your soul." Hermione said.

I blinked, "Are you saying I'm soul bonded to a Dragon?" Because the last thing I needed was Ferrovax showing up and dragging me to an impromptu wedding.

"What?!" Hermione said, startled. "No, Soul Bonds require a full ritual and two souls." She shook her head. "I think that maybe she got a piece of your soul and, because she was so young and still forming, she used it to grow her own."

"I think I'm missing something," I said. "How does that tie into my mindscape being too big?"

"Don't you see?" Hermione asked. "Your mindscape is trying to get stronger, why I don't know, but it uses anything it can to do so, so maybe Vivavax got some of your soul and in exchange you got some Dragon-ness for your mindscape."

"On purpose?" I asked, worried. If my mindscape was making decisions on its own…

Hermione shook her head, "I mean that your mindscape just used what you got from her. Not that it made some sort of conscious decision to exchange soul for Essence of Dragon. That would be crazy."

As if any part of my life wasn't crazy. Still, I was reassured. No mental mutiny for me.

"That still doesn't explain why I have such a big mindscape." I said. Personally, I thought it was a combination of me having more life experience and me dealing with Voldemort's Horcrux in my head.

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but Pansy beat her to the punch.

"You just have a lot of empty space to fill up is all, dragon girl," Pansy smirked. She stopped smirking when I drew my wand and fired a paint spell at her head. I barely managed to dodge her retaliatory strike. The bookshelf behind me turned an appalling shade of puke green.

"This is a library!" Hermione yelled from behind a nearby bookshelf. If Pansy's training had taught Hermione anything, it was the benefit of cover.

Sadly there was a big difference between cover and concealment, as Hermione learned when Pansy and I both sent paint charms at her. Hermione's scream of outrage signaled her entry into the fray.

**888**

The next few weeks passed in something of a blur. We studied, we practiced, we researched, and we went to class. It was nice. So nice in fact that I had almost convinced myself that the school year would end before anything interesting — a dirty word if there ever was one — could happen.

My last name is Potter; I should have known better.

I woke up sandwiched between Pansy and Hermione again. I was beginning to suspect something odd was going on, because no matter what I did I would wake up between the two of them. They both denied any involvement and I was forced to believe them when, after going to sleep on the floor with a sticking charm firmly locking me to the floor, I still woke up in my usual spot with my spell still in place.

After I extracted myself — a process that still woke my bedmates up — and we completed our morning routines, we made our way to the Room for a few quick matches against the golems — level threes now, though I hadn't yet beaten one without using my cloak — before making our way to the Great Hall.

I was halfway through breakfast when the mail came.

Hermione had a subscription to the Daily Prophet, but she was too focused on reviewing her Potions essay to read it, so I procured it for myself. I had taken to reading it in an effort to see if I could spot any sign of Voldemort. So far I'd enjoyed no success but it was only a matter of time. Either Voldemort was here or he was out there. One way or another I would find information about him.

The front page story was the usual celebrity gossip_, __Gilderoy Lockhart and His Amazing… Smile_, by Rita Skeeter. On the third page, though, was an article that drew my attention. At first I wasn't sure why, but when it hit me my stomach dropped.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Pansy asked concerned. Hermione looked up from her essay and gave me a curious look.

I put on a reassuring smile, "Nothing." I looked over at the Professors' table, my smile fading away when I didn't see Dumbledore. I reread the article.

_…unusual Warden activity after what seemed like a lull in the White Council's war with the Red Court has many wondering if we may be looking at a return of hostilities. This despite repeated reassurances from both Red Court and White Council representatives that the war was something that both sides wanted to end_.

If I was reading the clues correctly, then one of the Senior Council members was dead — despite reviewing my memories I couldn't remember which one it was — and Warden Donald Morgan was soon to follow.

Could I do anything? And if I could, should I? Morgan was a stranger. One who, from all accounts, was something of an ass. He was also a good man. One who, despite his numerous, numerous faults, always did what he believed was right.

If things happened the way I remembered they would, he would die. He would die remembered as a traitor. He would die after sacrificing himself to save his friend, and that was something I couldn't countenance. Such loyalty was admirable and should be rewarded.

"Alex?"

Which answered the question of whether or not I should do something, but what could I do? Going to Chicago was out of the question. Despite my mad skills I was far from ready to deal with that level of insanity, though if my current rate of improvement stayed consistent I might be able to risk it by my fourth year.

"She's got her thinking face on."

I could owl Dresden, but that was a fairly obvious indicator that I was a wand user — we were the only ones who made consistent use of post owls — and I did not need Dresden coming here. The combined bad luck of two Chosen Ones would sink Scotland.

"Really? It looks like she's in pain."

Which left, what, smoke signals?

"Well, yes, she's thinking. Pain goes with the territory." I smacked Pansy on the back of her head, and then started rubbing my hand. Pansy has a hard head. "Oh, so you are listening."

I ignored her. "Hermione, if I wanted to get information to someone quickly, without using an owl, how would I do that?"

"If we weren't at Hogwarts I would say a phone," Hermione answered, giving me a concerned look. "Or maybe email, but again we are at Hogwarts, so…"

I nodded, resisting the urge to face-palm. Less than a year in the magical world and I was already discounting muggle tech. I glanced around and noticed we were some of the last people here. It was nearly time for class.

"Alex, what's going on?" Pansy asked. I grimaced a little. She only used my real name when she was really worried.

"It's…" I stopped, unsure of what I could, or should, say. I didn't want to lie, but telling them I was worried because of meta-knowledge wasn't something I thought I was ready to tell them either. "I…—"

A chime sounded, signaling that classes would begin in five minutes.

"You can tell us anything," Hermione said, making no move to get up, though she did glance around nervously before focusing back on me.

They already knew I had somehow given Vivavax a soul, and I trusted them to keep that a secret, and that was knowledge that could easily get me killed or worse. The only reason I hadn't told them about my past life wasn't because I thought they would tell anyone. It was because I was afraid of how they would react to it.

I started to hyperventilate.

How would they see me if they knew that I was, technically, thirty. That I read about them in a book because in my old world they were fiction? How would they react when they found out I used to be a boy?

Pansy pulled me into a hug and Hermione came around the table to join us.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Pansy said, softly, while she rubbed my back.

"We trust you," Hermione said, as she too pulled me into a hug.

I closed my eyes and focused on breathing slowly, in and out, again and again, until finally I was breathing normally.

"Ow," I held my head. The lack of air had given me a headache.

"Are you okay now?" Hermione asked. I was about to answer, when Madam Hooch's whip like voice cracked out from right behind us.

"Why are you children not in class?!"

I tried to jump to my feet but only managed to slam my thighs into the table, stumble back, and fall off the bench. My heart pounded in my chest, and air was again in short supply. People kept sneaking up on me, and given that I had just started to get my breathing under control, I started hyperventilating again.

"It's Alex. She's having a panic attack." Pansy said.

I couldn't really see her because of the whole 'no air' thing, but Madam Hooch's voice was almost sneering when she replied, "Then get her to the Hospital Wing."

"Yes Ma'am," Pansy said.

Madam Hooch left and my friends started dragging me to the Hospital Wing.

**888**

By the time we actually made it there I was already starting to get my breathing under control, but Madam Pomfrey still gave me a Calming Draught and watched as I drank it down. She ran a few tests on me before announcing that she wanted me to stay until lunch.

"The two of you have already missed your first class, so you can stay for a few minutes, but I want you to leave soon so you can make it to your next one. Is that understood?" Madam Pomfrey said sternly as she looked at Hermione and Pansy. They nodded and she went to her office.

I took out my wand and cast a Silencing Charm. I thought we were alone, but there was no need to take any chances.

Before they could say anything I started speaking, the Calming Draught keeping my nerves at bay. "You both deserve answers and I'm going to give them to you, but it's going to take time and class is starting soon, so maybe I can tell you tonight in the Room?"

They exchanged looks before Hermione spoke up, "If you don't want to, you don't have to tell us."

"She's right," Pansy said.

I nodded, "I know, but I want to. I just have to do something first."

"What?" Pansy asked.

"Make a call," I said, already thinking about how to do so.

"How?" Hermione asked, her brows furled.

"Hogwarts obviously doesn't have a phone, and Hogsmeade doesn't either, but if I can get to London, finding a payphone should be easy," I said, thinking aloud. "There's probably a muggle town closer than that, but I don't know where, so that leaves using the Floo Network to get around." Even if I wanted to use my broom, I couldn't, as Vivavax had eaten its magic, rendering it little more than a stick with bristles at one end.

"In case you've forgotten, there's a price on your head," Pansy said.

"I remember," I replied. I should be nervous, but the potion kept me at an even keel. I loved Calming Draughts. Well, at the moment it was more of a platonic appreciation, but the thought still counts. "Still have to do it."

Pansy's hands flexed, almost like she was imagining how they would feel wrapped around my throat. "And just what is so important that you're willing to risk losing your head?"

"If I don't make that call, if the information I have doesn't get to the right person soon, a good man will die," I calmly explained.

"If someone's going to die, you need to tell someone," Hermione said, her eyes wide.

"That's what I'm trying to do," I said. Good, they were coming around. Now, how to use the Floo Network without being caught…?

"No, I mean—" Hermione said.

"She means that you should tell a Professor." Pansy interrupted.

"I can't," I said. How could I make them understand? "Look, I know things."

"You're psychic?" Pansy said, incredulous.

"No, if I was my information would be more accurate." I shook my head, "Look, I'll explain everything, but unless you want to skip, you need to get to class."

"If you think I care about class right now, you have another thing coming," Pansy said. Hermione nodded in agreement.

I frowned, "Look, it's way too early for me call right now. I'll stay here until lunch and then I'll explain things."

Hermione and Pansy exchanged looks before nodding.

"We'll meet in the Room?" Hermione asked.

"In the Room," I agreed.

**888**

It was nearly lunchtime when Madam Pomfrey let me leave. I quickly made my way to the Room, using my cloak to make sure I was able to get there without being waylaid.

I got there first and had the Room transform into the living room of my old house. After entering, I made my way to the shelf of movies to check if the Room had made things to speck. I smiled when I saw the first three Harry Potter movies, just like I had pictured. I popped the first one into the DVD player and pressed play, only to frown when the movie started skipping around.

Some scenes were completely garbled by static and others were completely black. I took the movie out of the player and put in another one — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — to see if it would play.

It worked perfectly.

I frowned. Why wouldn't the Harry Potter movie work? I tried another, RED, but it didn't work either. What was going on? I thought for a moment and looked at the covers for a clue. The Lord of the Rings one looked alright, but the cover for RED looked wrong.

R.E.D. — Old Dudes kill lots of CIA idiots.

That, uh… that wasn't the right summary. I turned the Harry Potter case over.

Yer a Wizard, Harry.

I tried a few more movies and started to see a pattern. Everything that came out before 2003 was fine. Anything that came out after that didn't work. Well, anything but the first Harry Potter movie, which I was fairly certain came out when I was still in elementary school, and so would have had to have come out before 2003.

So… what, anything that didn't exist in the here and now, the Room couldn't make? That seemed an odd limitation for the Room, but the evidence spoke for itself.

Before I could ponder that further, Pansy and Hermione arrived.

I wrung my hands nervously as they sat down on the couch. "I'm not sure where to start," I admitted. I'd planned to use the movies to help explain, but that was now out of the question.

"The beginning is usually a good place," Pansy said.

I took a deep breath — stupid Calming Draught was wearing out — and nodded, "Okay, the beginning. I was born on September 23, 1992." They looked like they were about to interrupt, so I held up my hand to stop them. "Please, let me finish." When they nodded I continued. "I lived a fairly average life until Spring Break of 2015, when something happened and I somehow found myself born again, this time as the daughter of James and Lily Potter." I gave them an expectant look. If they didn't believe that, then they really wouldn't believe what I said next.

I did not expect their reply.

"But all cases of reincarnation have come from people in the past," Hermione said, her brows furled.

Pansy nodded in agreement, "All the ones I've heard of did."

I blinked, "That's not the reaction I was expecting." Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.

"That's not it, is it?" Pansy asked, raising her brow.

"No, but that's the most believable part," I answered honestly.

"Most believable?" Hermione muttered. "What else is there?"

"It has to do with why I have to go to London." I swallowed before continuing. "Okay, so, not only am I a reincarnation, but I'm also completely sure that my past life was not from around here."

"Around here?" Pansy asked.

"I mean that I'm from Earth, just not this Earth." I looked at them to see how they took that. Hermione was clearly trying to process it, but Pansy just raised her brow and asked, "How do you know?" She didn't seem to think I was lying, but she clearly wanted me to prove it.

"The biggest difference was the complete absence of magic," I said.

"You could have just been a muggle," Pansy countered.

I nodded, "Good point." I honestly didn't know how to argue that. "But that's not the only reason I know I'm right. In my last life there was this book series—"

"Book series?" Hermione interrupted.

"Yes, um, the Harry Potter series. Now, I never read the books, but I did watch the movies," Hermione grimaced a little. "Well the first few at least, and I did read a lot of fanfiction about them. While they aren't completely accurate they do bear a startling resemblance to, well… this past year." I waited for them to respond, but before they could do so I kept going, my nerves getting the better of me. "They got a lot right, Hogwarts, the ministry, and spells and stuff." I crossed my arms self-consciously. "And I don't think the Ministry would let anyone make a movie."

"So what you're saying is that you are from another universe?" I nodded, and Pansy kept going. "And in this other world we were, what, just a story?" I nodded again. "That sounds…"

"Crazy, I know. That's why I never told anyone." I tried to think of something to say that would convince them. "Ask me something, anything. I know things that maybe will make you believe me."

They exchanged looks before Hermione spoke up, "You told me you heard about the Room from your parents, but that's not how you knew about it, is it?" I shook my head. She frowned before continuing, "Is there anywhere else like that, that you know of?"

"The Chamber of Secrets," I said without pausing. As far as I knew, Hogwarts only had two major secret locations; the Room of Requirement and the Chamber of Secrets.

"The chamber is a myth," Pansy said. "People have been trying to find it for centuries, and they never found any proof that it ever really existed."

"I know where it is and how to get in," I said, a trifle smugly.

**888**

The walk to the second floor was made in an awkward silence. I was trying to think of how best to explain everything and they were digesting what I'd revealed so far.

"It's in here." I pointed to the girls' room.

"In Myrtle's bathroom?" Hermione asked, aghast.

"We'll be fine if we leave her alone," Pansy reassured her before looking at me. "We are going to leave her alone, right?"

"Yes, we're going to leave her alone," I promised them. Ghosts in Hogwarts aren't violent, or at least they aren't violent to us. There had been a few occasions in the past where Hogwarts had been attacked and the ghosts had responded with overwhelming force, and that wasn't even taking into account how dangerous non-Hogwarts ghosts could be. People gave ghosts a wide berth for a reason.

Take it from someone who knows; Casper is not a friendly ghost.

We stepped inside, and thankfully Myrtle was nowhere in sight. I inspected the sinks until I found the one with a small snake carving.

"Alright, give me a minute. I want to make sure there's no surprises." I closed my eyes before they could respond.

Breath. Focus. Sense.

I extended my senses towards the sinks. There was a small spell that reminded me of slithering, and another that felt like change. The first one was the Parseltongue spell, and the second one was probably the one that opened the doorway.

I opened my eyes and focused on the snake.

"Open."

The wall opened up and a tunnel appeared.

"What was that?!" Pansy demanded. She had stepped in front of Hermione and they were both giving me wide-eyed looks.

"Parseltongue," I answered, honestly confused at their reaction.

"It sounded…" Hermione said.

"Wrong," Pansy finished, shivering a little

"Wow, thanks. That makes me feel so good," I said sarcastically. I mean, yes it sounded weird but, their reaction was a little over the top. "Anyway, believe me now?"

"Shouldn't we go down there to make sure that it's actually the chamber?" Hermione asked, as she moved over to the tunnel. I grabbed the back of her robe to keep her away from it.

"Sure, we can go down. If you want to run into a Basilisk." I said.

"A Basilisk?" Hermione asked, jumping back.

I focused on the snake and, making sure to whisper, closed the tunnel. Hermione still jumped back. I looked at them my eye brows raised. "Well?"

"Okay, so maybe you're not crazy," Pansy said. "But what's so important that you need to risk your life to, how did you put it, call someone?"

"Alright, um… so the Prophet had an article about unusual Warden Activity, right?" They had to have given the paper a once-over after my little freak out. When they nodded I continued, "If I'm remembering right, it's not because they're getting ready for another offensive against the Red Court."

"Then what are they doing?" Hermione asked.

"The Wardens are looking for one of their own who's been framed for the murder of one of the Senior Council—" I started only to be interrupted again.

"What?" They both asked.

"Can you let me finish?" I asked, a little annoyed at the constant interruptions. Once they nodded I continued, "There's a traitor in the White Council and he's using mind controlling ink to subtly influence the Senior Council's actions and policies. He used the ink to make one of the Wardens kill one of the Senior Council members." I eyed them both before asking whether they had any questions.

"Do I have any questions?" Pansy asked. "I have nothing but questions! But the most pressing of them is, how is making a call going to make any difference? If the traitor is mind controlling the Senior Council then just calling them isn't going to cut it."

"I have a plan, but I'm going to need you to trust me." I looked at them expectantly.

Hermione nodded.

"We got your back," Pansy said.

I smiled, touched, before laying out my plan. Once that was done we went to class, because tonight we put it into action.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: ******

**Follow the Money****  
**  
A part of me wanted to leave right away, but for things to work I needed to wait until it was mid-afternoon Chicago time to call. Too early and Karrin Murphy might be out to lunch, too late and she might have left for the day, and I did not want to be playing musical phones trying to get through to her, so I was stuck here in history class waiting for Binns to let us out for the day.

I slumped, head in my hands, waiting for him to finish with the 'Gringotts vs the Erlking'. I swear he's covered this very war at least ten times.

"…and on the 375th day the Erlking was forced to…" A bell sounded, signaling the end of class, and I nearly cheered when Binns said we could leave.

The Weasley Twins have something of a reputation. Admittedly that reputation is mostly for pranks, but they were also known to be able to get their hands on just about anything a bored or desperate student could possibly want. Potions, candy, Potions-dipped candy and a myriad of other odds and ends.

They weren't the only ones who sold contraband, most Houses had someone, but they were the only ones who I thought would be willing to help me get to London.

Finding the Twins wasn't the problem; it was dinnertime and there was never a Weasley that willingly missed a meal, and my cloak made it simplicity itself to slip into the Great Hall and place a note on one of the Twins unnoticed. The hard part was trying to convince my friends not to come.

"It's not that I don't want you to come, it's just that there's no need for you to," I said.

"No need?" Pansy sniffed disdainfully. "You're just scared we might get hurt."

"No, that's not it at all!" I hastened to deny, even though it was just as she said.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Either it's safe enough for us to come, or it's too dangerous for you to go." She raised her brow curiously, "Which is it?"

I gave my wand a look, wondering if I could stun her before she knew what hit her. Before I could even seriously consider drawing my wand, Pansy had hers resting at the base of my throat.

"Don't even think about it. Either we are going with you, or you are not going." Pansy leaned in close and looked me in the eye, "Got it?"

I just blinked innocently, "Think about what?"

Before she could respond, the Twins walked into the abandoned classroom we were waiting in.

"Brother mine, I think we may be interrupting something," Twin One said.

Twin Two nodded in agreement, "Indeed, brother. Perhaps we should come back later?"

I pushed Pansy's wand away and smiled hugely. "Boys, I've some mischief to manage, and I think you can help me."

The Twins exchanged looks before Twin One — I decided to call him the handsome twin — spoke up, "Well, you certainly have our attention."

"What can we do for you, Troll Slayer?" Twin Two asked. What to call him? Handsome was taken, and calling him the ugly twin was just mean.

I was about to tell them when Hermione spoke up from her spot, where she had been ignoring the argument between me and Pansy. "We need to get to London and back without anyone noticing."

"What makes you think we can do that?" Handsome twin asked.

"And even if we could, why would we?" The other twin, I'd figure out a name if it killed me, asked.

"I can pay," I said, placing ten galleons on one of the desks, "And it's what Prongs would do."

"Now what would you know about Prongs?" Other Twin asked, his eyebrow raised.

"And why do you think he'd help you?" Handsome asked.

"Why wouldn't he help his own daughter?" I asked innocently, tilting my head curiously.

"You're—" Other started.

"—related to the Marauders?" Handsome finished.

I nodded happily.

The Twins exchanged one of those silent looks that somehow contained a whole conversation.

"We're in!" They both said.

**888**

Handsome Twin left to get supplies while Other Twin started leading us to the Whomping Willow after making us apply Disillusionment Charms. The Willow was smarter than the average tree, and with its whirling limbs and disdain for students it made an excellent guard for the secret tunnel below.

"Wait here," the disembodied voice of Other Twin said.

Though he was invisible, the Whomping Willow still managed to target him. Tree limbs slammed into the ground, trying and — judging by the lack of screaming — failing to hit Other Twin as he scrambled towards the base of the tree.

After a long moment the tree froze and Other Twin called out, "Come on!" I hurried over, trusting Pansy and Hermione to follow. We slipped under the tree and into the tunnel below. Once we were all inside, Other Twin cancelled his Disillusionment, fading into view. "Alright, no need to be invisible now."

"_Finite_," I said, cancelling my own spell. I could have used my cloak, but the spell worked well enough and, while I somewhat trusted the Twins, there was no need to take chances. "So how are we getting to London?"

"We'll take Zonko's Floo," Other said, as he started leading us down the dank tunnel. "He's gone home for today, and he doesn't mind if me and Fred use it to get supplies. Well, he doesn't mind as long as he gets a cut."

"You do this kind of thing often?" Pansy asked from behind me.

He shook his head, "We use it to go to Diagon Alley to get supplies, but sneaking people out with us? That's a first."

"New business venture, maybe?" I asked.

"No, too risky," he said. "Selling contraband is one thing, the Professors are willing to ignore it as long as nothing to bad gets out, but taking people out of Hogwarts is… dangerous. There's too many things out there that like the taste of Wizards."

"Aha," I said. "Makes sense."

We reached the end of the tunnel, and George started up the ladder. He reached the top and opened a hatch before waving for us to follow. I went up first, Hermione and Pansy following behind.

George sat in a ratty old arm chair, "Make yourselves comfortable. We can't leave until George gets here."

"I thought you said he was Fred?" Pansy asked.

"Did I?" Not-George said, smiling disarmingly. Pansy rolled her eyes, and let's-just-go-with-George smirked, "So why, exactly, do you need to get to London?"

"I need to make a call," I said.

"Floo call?" He asked confused. "You can do that back in the castle, you know."

I nodded, "I know, but it's not a Floo call, it's a muggle phone call."

"Oh." Before he could say anything else, Fred arrived.

"Ok, so we only have one Temporary Ageing Potion but we have two Polyjuice Potions, so who wants what?" Fred asked.

"Polyjuice," Pansy said.

"Polyjuice sounds good," I said.

"I guess I'll take the Ageing Potion," Hermione said, looking a trifle disappointed that she wouldn't get to use Polyjuice.

Fred handed them out, "Okay, so the Ageing Potion will only last two hours and the Polyjuice should be good for about two, maybe three hours, so don't take too long with whatever you're doing." He and George were both giving me odd looks, "Bottoms up."

I eyed them, a little worried about who I was about to turn into, before biting the bullet and swallowing the potion. It tasted just as bad as I expected, pond water and sour milk being the best comparisons I could make.

For a moment nothing happened, and I started glaring at the Twins, but then I jerked back and had to lean against the wall for support.

It felt like I was drinking something, except instead of drinking it with my mouth I was drinking it with my whole body. Every inch of my body, from the bottom of my feet to the ends of my hair, was taking it in, and whatever it was it wasn't water, though it was refreshing in an odd slimy fashion. I finished drinking and then my body started to change.

When I changed myself it felt natural, almost artistic, but the change the Polyjuice induced was, as odd as it sounded, almost clinical in how it worked. It had a blueprint that it was following and it was determined to see it followed to the letter.

The changes stopped and I tried to take a deep breath, but only managed a small one as my clothes were suddenly several sizes too small.

"Let me," George said. "_Engorgio_." Suddenly my clothes fit again.

"Alex?" my father... no, Pansy asked. I stared at her — him? — and she stared at me.

Hermione, now looking almost twenty, looked at me in shock.

"What?" I finally asked, before turning to the Twins. "Who do I look like?"

They exchanged looks, before Handsome Fred said, "You were supposed to look like one of the Marauders, but…"

"You look like Bellatrix Lestrange," Pansy finished for him.

"Why do I look like Bellatrix?" I asked the Twins. "And just how do you even have Marauder hair?"

"Well, the Marauders left a workshop of sorts," George said, "and we found it. Had all sorts of things in it."

"Like Potions ingredients. Well, most of them had gone bad, but some of them, like hairs for Polyjuice, were still good," Fred said.

"Ah," I said, "So you decided to use some Padfoot hair, since I'm a Marauder's kid?" Then I frowned, "If it's his hair, then why do I look like Bellatrix?"

The Twins exchanged looks again, before speaking as one, "We ain't sure, pal."

"Well I can't just go out like this," I said. I pulled out my small makeup mirror and drew my wand. I focused on my reflection and started waving my wand in nonsense patterns while muttering under my breath.

I changed my hair first, lightening it from a dark black to an easy brown, and then I darkened my skin tone a few degrees from pasty white to a healthy tan. I gave my face, or Bellatrix's face, a longing look. If only I could change it. I nearly dropped the mirror when my face shifted, the sharp bone structure easing into something a little softer.

"Well then," I said. How did I do that? Was it because of the extra material I had to work with, or something else? I put my things away, time to contemplate later. "Let's get going, shall we?"

"…Right," Fred said. "Follow me."

We left the small shack and made our way to the back of Zonko's, and the Twins let us in.

"You all know how to use the Floo, right?" George asked as he stepped into a small back room. We all nodded. "Right, so George and I have some shopping to do, but we'll meet you at the Shrieking Shack when we're done. Remember, you only have a few hours before the potions wear out, so don't take too long."

With that said, we went through.

**888**

Making our way into muggle London was easy enough. Finding a payphone was slightly harder, but not too difficult. Working up the nerve to actually make the call was another matter entirely.

I spent a good minute just looking at the phone before Pansy spoke up. "Alex, what's wrong?"

I shook my head and got to work. I called information, and after going through an operator or two managed to get through to the Chicago Police Department.

"CPD, this is Lisa, how may I direct your call?" Lisa, the police secretary I'm guessing, asked.

"Yes, can I speak to Detective Murphy, Special Investigations?" I asked, glancing at my surroundings nervously. I swear I felt like I was being watched. Mind you, that was probably just my paranoia speaking, but still.

"One moment, please," Lisa said.

A moment later the line clicked over and a hard female voice answered, "This is Detective Murphy, who is this?"

I almost froze, before I forced myself to say the first thing that came to mind, "Right, yes, you can call me Bella." Pansy and Hermione both gave me 'what the heck' looks. I shrugged, and gave them a helpless look in return.

"…Okay Bella, how can I help you?" Murphy asked, voice suspicious. I fought the urge to bang my head against the phone, I'm so bad at this.

"I need you to give Dresden some information," I said.

There was a short pause before Murphy spoke again, "Look, I don't know who this is, but—"

"That's kind of the point," I interrupted her, before sighing. "Sorry, it's just what I need you to tell him is important and more than a little dangerous. I don't want to be anywhere near this, I have enough problems without adding Dresden's, but if I don't at least try and get this to someone who can do something with it… I don't know if I can look myself in the mirror, you know?"

"Alright ma'am, what do you need me to tell him?" Murphy asked, her cop voice cool and steady.

I took a deep breath before speaking, "Someone is going to come to Dresden for help, if he hasn't already. There's going to be a shapeshifter, an evil Native American spirit—"

"How do we kill it?" Murphy interrupted, her voice intent.

"It's a minor dark god, the last time one of them was killed it took a nuke, so killing it is kinda off the table." I had debated revealing this part before deciding that it was probably a good idea for Dresden to be bound to the island. I got the feeling it would be important for him, and maybe the world, in the future. "But if he performs a Sanctum Invocation on the island, he can imprison it."

"Which island?" She sounded like she already knew the answer, but wanted to be wrong.

"The island, Detective. _The_ island," I said.

"Anything else?" Murphy asked, tense.

"Yes, two... no, three things. Tell Dresden he needs to see, not call, _see_ his mentor and have him, or better yet, have Wizard Listens-To-Wind check the ink that they are using to sign documents—"

"The ink?" Murphy asked, interrupting me again.

"Yes, the ink. If my information is correct, then it's being used to influence them," I said gravely. The White Council was one of the biggest powers in the supernatural community, and someone influencing them was a horrifying thought.

"And the last two things?" Murphy asked, sounding like she really didn't want to know, but was determined to see this through.

"There is no cure for Red Court vampirism, but you can put the vampire side of those who have not yet killed to sleep," I said, before taking another deep breath and continuing, "And if he should contact Miss Rodriguez, he should ask about Maggie."

"How do you—" Murphy said.

"That's not important," I interrupted. "Do you have all that, Detective?"

"…Yes, I have it." Murphy ground out. "What I don't have is a reason to believe you." I blinked, I hadn't expected that. "How do I know you're not just trying to get Dresden killed?" Even though it annoyed me it was a reasonable question. Dresden had enemies, calling a friend of his with false information was a good way to try and off him without actually getting your hands dirty.

"Detective, I don't know how to convince you that I'm trying to help. All I can do is promise you that I am trying. So please, _please_ just tell him what I told you. One way or another he'll be able to verify what I said."

There was a long silence on the other end before Murphy spoke. "Alright, I'll tell him."

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "Thank you and good luck, Detective." I hung up the phone before she could say anything else, and slumped against the phone. "Damn, that was stressful." I really hoped I hadn't just made a huge mistake.

"What's chasing him?" Hermione asked, speaking for the first time since we left.

I shook my head, "Not here, we can talk when we get back to the Room." I still had that weird feeling of being watched.

"Fine," Hermione said tersely.

I blinked, the only time I'd seen Hermione like this was just before a test. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Of course," she said, before turning on her heel and walking back towards the Leaky Cauldron. I turned to Pansy and she — well, he at the moment — just shrugged. "We have to get back soon!" Hermione called out, and Pansy and I started after her.

**888**

We arrived at the Shrieking Shack to find the Twins going to town on a pair of ice-cream sundaes.

"I hope your night was as successful as ours was," George said.

"It was," Pansy said.

"Good!" Fred said happily, before finishing the last of his sundae. "Alright, let's go."

"Brother mine, I do believe you have forgotten something," George said.

"I have?" Fred asked. "Oh, right." He reached into his clothes and pulled out an oblong container. "We got you a sundae. One of Fortescue's best." He handed it to me.

"Thanks," I said, and then nearly dropped it when I started shrinking. After a long moment I finished shrinking and found myself clutching at clothes that were far too big for me. "...Help?"

"_Finite_," Fred said, before doing the same for Pansy while George helped Hermione.

"Much better, thank you," I said after my clothes returned to normal and I got everything adjusted just right. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to get back."

"The customer is always right. Follow us, my lady," George said, bowing with a flourish, before opening the trapdoor and heading down. We followed and in short order were back on Hogwarts grounds and safely outside the range of the Whomping Willow.

We made it to the entrance hall before the Twins wished us a goodnight and split off to get to the Gryffindor dorms.

"The Room?" I asked as Pansy, Hermione and I started up the stairway.

"The Room," Pansy agreed. Hermione said nothing. I gave her a worried look before continuing up. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be an easy talk. We climbed the stairs in silence until we passed the fourth floor and I had enough.

"Hermione," I started.

"Not now," Hermione said. Okay, someone's mad.

"Okay," I agreed. I really wasn't going to like this talk.

It wasn't yet nine o'clock, which meant that curfew wasn't in effect, so we didn't bother going invisible, which meant that when Quirrell got on the stairs he saw us.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't we?" Quirrell asked, looking up at us from the bottom of the staircase. "Miss Parkinson, shouldn't you be heading in the other direction?" Pansy and I exchanged looks. "Why don't you follow me? I'll make sure you get to the Slytherin dorms without further delay."

Despite everything pointing against his guilt, I still didn't trust Quirrell. He creeped me the hell out, and the thought of Pansy going with him this late at night, without any backup, made my hair stand on end. Unfortunately, unless I wanted to attack him, there wasn't really any way for me to keep her from going with him.

"Just in case," I whispered and did the only thing I could think of. I pulled Pansy into a hug and slipped her my cloak. With her skill and my cloak backing her, if Quirrell attacked her, she should be able to get away.

Pansy got a little wide eyed, before schooling her face and nodding. She gave Hermione a hug before heading down the stairs towards Quirrell.

Quirrell gave Pansy a nod, before looking back up at Hermione and me. "You two had best be going if you want to make it back to your dorms before curfew."

I reluctantly turned away and started up the stairs, and Hermione followed. We had almost made it to the Ravenclaw dorms' entrance when I turned to face Hermione.

"If you want, we can just go to the Room now, I don't mind answering questions twice," I said, feeling slightly at a loss. Hermione had seemed fine earlier, but now she seemed angry. "I know keeping secrets isn't the…" I trailed off when I noticed that Hermione's eyes weren't focused on me, but on something behind me.

I spun around, sliding to the side, my wand falling into my right hand and a throwing knife sliding into my left. I froze when I saw the hooded figure with bright, blood-red eyes.

I took a panicked step back, and nearly tripped over Hermione's fallen form. "V-Vol..." Voldemort, it had to be him, raised his arm and I fell to the floor, twitching erratically from a pain so sudden and intense I couldn't draw in enough air to scream.

The pain abruptly stopped and I gasped for breath. That had hurt worse than the lava. Before I could do anything else a red light hit me and I lost consciousness.

**888**

_Pansy_

After Alex's revelations today I had been looking forward to going over them tonight. I mean, I had been expecting something odd, but for it to be reincarnation and for her memories to be so _intact_ was almost unbelievable. Most reincarnates that I had read about were lucky if they could even remember who their parents were, let alone that they were in a plot from some book.

If Alex being a reincarnate with a solid memory wasn't hard enough to believe, she was also from another Earth? One where the muggles made a play... no, a movie about the supernatural, and got it _right_? That kind of thing was impossible. It didn't happen in real life, it couldn't…

… and yet Alex believed it wholeheartedly. Her emotions were exactly what I would expect from someone revealing a closely held secret. _Dread-fear-anxiety-hope_. No matter how unbelievable it sounded, Alex was telling the truth as she knew it.

Unless of course Alex was actually so capable a liar that she was able to completely fool me. (My quill actually fell from my hand, I was laughing so hard.) Or she could simply be crazy, but if she was, then how did she know the things she did?

The Chamber of Secrets was a prize that people had looked for practically since the founding of Hogwarts, but no one had ever found it. And Alex finds it her first year? Or the Room of Requirement, something that there were not even legends about. She almost _needed_ otherworldly knowledge to find them, didn't she?

I eyed Professor Quirrell as we made our way towards the Slytherin dormitories. What did Alex know about him that made her willing to part with her invisibility cloak, something she had never done before, on the off-chance he'd try something? Her emotions regarding the Defense Professor were always tinged with suspicion and fear, but I had simply assumed that it was because of their encounter during the flying lessons. Now, I now realized that the depths of her emotions regarding him were too deep to only be about that.

"Something on my face?" Professor Quirrell asked, his face falling into an easy smile. _Curiosity-amusement_, not exactly the feelings I expected from the horror that Alex seemed to think he was.

I smiled back, and started to respond when I felt Alex's _PAIN_. It stopped nearly as soon as it had started, but it was enough to make me trip and fall. I was back on my feet immediately.

"What's wrong, Miss Parkinson?" Professor Quirrell asked, _concern-worry_.

If he really was as bad as Alex thought, then he could be partly responsible for whatever was wrong with her now, the extremely muted feelings of a stunned person being the only reassurance I had that she and Hermione were still alive. I hesitated only a moment before responding. If he was part of this I'd simply have to go through him to get my friends back.

"Alex and Hermione are in danger," I said, keeping a close eye on his emotions for any sign of danger. What I felt from him, though, was surprise followed by a deep dread, more than I would have expected even given the circumstances, before they disappeared and all I could feel was a steely wall of determination.

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking me straight in the eye.

"Yes."

He turned away, "Go to your room, I will take care of this." He pulled something, not a wand, out of his robe and muttered a spell before sprinting up the stairs.

I silenced my feet and was about to reach for the cloak when I saw my arm disappear. I stared at my invisible arm for a moment before shaking my head, whoever had enchanted this cloak had done an amazing job, but I had more important things to do right now.

Someone had just made a huge mistake. They had hurt my friends. My friends. **MINE**. I had every intention of repaying them, whoever they were, with interest.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: **Firstly, major props to my beta Cat. Without whom this chapter would only be half as awesome.

Second, this chapter has a minor gore warning. Read at your own risk.

**Chapter 22:**

**The Dark Lord**

_Alex_

The first thing I heard when I regained consciousness was the sound of Hermione's muffled whimpers coming from right behind me. The second thing I heard was the oddly pleased sounding voice of Lord Voldemort.

"I know you're awake, Potter. I just Enervated you myself." Maybe I should change it to Dark Lady, because when I opened my eyes found myself looking into the face of Madam Hooch. "There, that's better." Her red eyes gleamed at me energetically as she pet the side of my face. "Wouldn't want you to miss the fun, now would we?"

I hung suspended in the air, unable to move. Voldemort smirked, "I want you awake, not able to interfere." I strained against my bonds to no avail, the spell holding me in place was too strong for me to break without my wand. "It's a spell of my own devising, you see. It's so annoying having to go to a specialized room to torture someone, especially when you have things to do."

She gave me a 'what can you do' look, before continuing.

"So I made this spell, completely restrains the victim and keeps them close at hand." She took a few steps away to demonstrate. I floated after her. "It works best when laid on shackles, but all of mine were destroyed and this _is_ somewhat last minute." She looked behind me and frowned, before waving her wand. I heard a sickening squelching sound and Hermione's whimpers redoubled.

"Hermione?!" I couldn't move, but apparently Voldemort likes to hear her victims beg, because I could talk. Hermione didn't respond. My heart skipped a beat. "Hermione?"

"Don't worry, I haven't started with your little mudblood friend. Yet." She twitched her wand to the side and I floated around to face the rest of the room. It was huge, nearly three stories of empty space, and in the center sat the Mirror of Erised. Despite how horrifying being even this close to that thing was, it wasn't what held my attention.

Lying maybe thirty feet from the Mirror, just a bit away from the door, was Fluffy the Cerberus—or rather what was left of him. His left head was just gone. The middle head had a huge dent in it but otherwise seemed ok. His right head was crushed. I could see bits of brain scattered around him. There should have been blood but I couldn't see any.

"Putting the Stone in the Mirror of Erised was a good idea, I admit, but leaving a Cerberus to guard it? It's almost like Dumbledore wanted me to get it," Voldemort said. "A beast that tied to death and the Underworld? Finding a ritual to disable the Mirror was almost too easy." I rotated to face her again. "Of course, the Cerberus blood won't be enough on its own, which is where you two come in." Her smile was serene, almost inviting. The urge to scream was nearly overwhelming but, through a force of will that I didn't know I had, I forced myself to speak normally.

"That's not really necessary, is it? I mean surely the great Lord Voldemort can get through the protections without sacrificing us?" Stall, I just needed to stall until I could come up with something.

Anything.

She just raised an amused eyebrow, "Really?" I tried to shrug with my face. I wasn't very successful. There were many good reasons I wasn't put into Slytherin, but I was beginning to think the main reason was because I couldn't act to save my life—literally, it seems.

Time to try another tactic, "What do you mean last minute?"

"I had meant to wait until summer break. The annual IWC meeting keeps Dumbledore busy for weeks. Perfect opportunity, really." She sighed, "But this body is failing, so I was forced to act early."

"That must have been frustrating," I consoled. Come on Alex, think!

"It was, it really was," Voldemort nodded. "But then Dumbledore gets called to Rome early for some emergency or another, and then I catch the two of you out of bed. Ah, it's times like this that I realize that the universe wants me to succeed." She stabbed her wand out and another squelching sound echoed around the room.

I swallowed, fighting the urge to be sick. Behind me Hermione started throwing up. While Voldemort was busy, I tried to reassure Hermione.

"I know you're scared, but I promise you that I will get you out of this. I promise." Hermione's only response was to start crying. Please God, don't make me a liar.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Voldemort twirled her wand and a red light filled the room before fading away. "Especially as it's time for the two of you to die." She cocked her brow, "Who wants to go first?"

"Me, I'll go first," I said. She raised her wand. "But maybe we can make a deal?"

She started laughing, a deep full body laugh before stopping abruptly. Whatever good cheer she had displayed earlier was gone and in its place was something barely human. Anger emanated from her in waves and her magic, something that I hadn't been able to sense until now, exploded out of her with crushing force, drowning me in its power. I gagged, unable to stop myself from losing my dinner when I tasted her magic. Corpses, death and schadenfreude, and something else that didn't quite feel at home with the rest of her.

"And just what do you think you could possibly offer me that would make me even consider sparing _you_?" Her voice, now cold and merciless, hissed out. "You who nearly killed me! You whose very life is an insult to my name!" She leaned in close, her voice falling to a whisper. "Tell me, what do you offer? Speak well child, I am in no mood for games."

I could barely breathe, and even if I were able to talk fear had driven rational though from my mind.

"Well?" She asked. When I failed to respond, she pointed her wand at my leg. "_Ossis Effergo_." I screamed as I felt the bone shatter. "I don't like to be kept waiting Potter."

"I-I," Before I could say anything she jumped backwards, barely dodging a dark brown spell that slammed into the wall and where it hit, the wall started hissing and melting.

"Quirinus, how nice of you to join us," Voldemort said, voice cold but not surprised. She waved her hand and I was facing the room once more. It had changed since I last saw it—now the Cerberus was dead and there was a pentagram of some sort surrounding the Mirror. It looked wrong, evil, and that wasn't just because it was made of blood either. "Come for Potter?"

Quirrell was standing a bit away from the now open door. "Silence, Desecrator. _Sanguinem Febris_!" A blood red curse flew across the room towards Voldemort, who simply batted it aside with a flick of her wand.

"Try again," She said, smirking. Her magic still saturated the room, but her demeanor had switched back.

Quirrell glared at her before slashing his wand at her, and the fight was on.

Quirrell was a good fighter. His spells had power and his movements were fast and sure, but for every spell he fired Voldemort fired two with three times the power, and none of his spells were hitting. Voldemort either dodged or blocked every one. It was only a matter of time until he lost. I needed to figure something out before then.

My jaw dropped when Pansy walked in, calmly as you pleased, and surveyed the room before skirting around the fight on her way over to Hermione and me. When no one else reacted to her I realized she was using my cloak, and I realized I had my opportunity.

As Pansy made her way over to me I caught her eye and deliberately looked at Voldemort before looking at the Mirror. I repeated this process a few times before I started speaking.

"Hermione, I've got a plan. When the time comes, be ready to _throw_ down." I only lowered my voice a little. If Voldemort heard me I wanted her to think I was just that bad at this. "Just hang in there." Given that Hermione started sobbing, that may have been a poor choice of words.

"Really Quirinus, I expected better than this," Voldemort said as she twisted to avoid a spell. "You're molding our children's future, and this is all you're capable of? Tut tut, I have my work cut out for me when I take over, don't I?"

Quirrell's response was to launch another spell at her. This time she didn't dodge or block. No, Voldemort caught the spell barehanded and threw it back at him. Already drained from their fight, Quirrell was unable to dodge. The spell hit him dead center and his rib cage exploded. Bone and other things went flying, showering the surrounding area before being absorbed by the pentagram.

"Well, that's one sacrifice taken care of. I suppose only one of you has to die now…" Voldemort turned to face me and that's when I made my move.

I mustered every bit of my magic and will, then looked her straight in the eye and screamed, "Legilimens!" Despite all my Occlumency training I was still a complete amateur when it came to attacking the mind, but I did have a fair bit of power backing me up. More than that I was desperate, very desperate. I was fighting to save myself, more importantly I was fighting to save my friends.

But, as everyone knows, that didn't count for anything in the real world.

Voldemort stopped me cold. It wasn't even a fight. One moment I'm trying to attack her and the next she's grabbed a hold of my probe and started squeezing. I screamed. It hurt so much I couldn't move, couldn't think, I could only thrash in my bonds.

Thankfully, Pansy hadn't been idle. As soon as I caught Voldemort's eye she had started running at her, and just before Pansy reached her she stopped and firmly planted her left foot. Her right leg came up, and with all the strength and momentum she had built, she kicked Voldemort in the chest, no doubt breaking more than a few ribs.

The kick sent Voldemort flying back, straight at the Mirror of Erised. As fast as she was moving the Mirror should have been sent flying or broken into a million pieces. Instead she hit the Mirror without budging it at all.

I got the feeling that no amount of physical force would ever damage it.

The magic holding Hermione and I had failed, and we fell to the ground. I managed to land on my broken leg, sending white hot pain shooting through me. It was too much for my battered mind to endure, and my tenuous hold on consciousness failed.

**888**

_Hermione_

"Hermione, I've got a plan. When the time comes, be ready to throw down. Just hang in there." Alex said.

Hang in there? Hang in there?! We were all going to die. This was Voldemort—not some troll, not some rogue Quidditch balls—Voldemort! Unless Headmaster Dumbledore showed up soon, the chances of us leaving were next to zero.

Tears ran down my face, and I started sobbing in earnest.

I couldn't see anything but the wall, but I did hear Alex yell something at Voldemort. All of a sudden I fell to the ground, finally able to move. I may have simply lain there until help came if Voldemort hadn't started screaming.

It was a horrible sound, something no human could possibly make. It hurt to hear, cutting into my mind, giving me visions of, of _things_. Things with no shape, no form, no face and a hatred for all things mortal.

It was wrong, wrong, _wrong_.

_I had to get away!_

The screaming stopped, and I came back to myself to find I had been clawing at the wall in an attempt to get away. My fingers were bloody and most of my nails were gone, broken bits sticking to the bloody streaks on the wall.

A cracking-squelching sound caused me to turn around. I wished I hadn't.

Voldemort's body was slumped against the Mirror of Erised, broken and bloody. The body twitched and a viscous black sludge started oozing out of it, gathering on the ground in front of the body, before somehow launching itself at Quirrell's corpse. It entered through the gaping hole where his rib cage used to be.

Quirrell's body got to its feet in a movement that was in no way human, and then IT spoke.

**"I am becoming annoyed."** Its voice was wrong, it almost sounded like Alex's Parseltongue but worse, because I could understand it. Its head suddenly jerked to the side, as if something hit it. It jerked again, before IT used Quirrell's wand to launch a wide area banishing charm.

It must have hit, because something slammed into the wall right next to me. I flinched away, only to stop when something grabbed my arm and Pansy's voice said, in a pained whisper, "Circle."

"What?" Circle, what circle? But I got no response. Pansy must have lost consciousness.

**"Granger, is it not?"** The thing in Quirrell's body asked. IT jerked and started walking towards us, moving slowly, as if it wasn't quite sure how to use its body properly. I watched it for a moment before I realized that if I didn't do something it would kill us. **"The other Professors speak of you, did you know? They have nothing but praise for you, 'Talent seen but once in a generation' they say."**

And then I knew what I had to do. This thing wasn't human, it couldn't be. Maybe a circle would keep it away. Pansy you're a genius! The cloak still hid her from sight but, after a moment of grasping blindly, I grabbed Pansy and dragged her over to Alex, thanking God for the practice Pansy had made us do.

I needed something to draw the circle, but my wand was gone and I didn't have any chalk on me. But Alex did have the sundae the Twins had given us. I grabbed it and quickly used it to draw a circle around us. It was shaky, imperfect, and the cold caused my fingers to cramp, but I managed to finish it. I imbued it with my will and magic just as IT reached us.

**"I will give you a one in a lifetime opportunity,"** IT said as it circled the barrier. **"Lower the circle, let me in and I will embrace you. I will teach you Magicks you could only dream of. I will give you Power enough to crush even the Keeper of the Gates."** IT knelt down to look me in the eye. I ducked my head and tried to ignore the shiver that ran down my spine at IT's words.

**"I know the look on your face. You have suffered haven't you? Tormented by your peers, you endured their cruelties, and still you were ostracized."** I nodded despite myself. **"It's the hunger that gives you away, the need to prove your worth. That burning desire to show the world your power and wisdom, to make the fools that dared to challenge you understand the folly of their ways."**

Visions of what the Mirror of Erised showed me, the bullies, the purebloods, kneeling down in abject worship. I shivered. God help me, I could almost taste it.

I shook my head and fed more power to the circle. If I let IT in my friends were dead.

IT sighed, **"Come now, you do not really think this will keep me out, do you?"**

"I-I think it will," I said, before screaming when IT slashed at the circle, but it failed to penetrate the boundary. I fed the circle more magic.

**"I wish only for the Child of Prophecy. You may keep the other one,"** IT spoke again, voice almost charming despite its wrongness. **"I saw you two arguing earlier; it seemed as though she had angered you quite a bit." **IT smiled easily. **"Is she truly someone worth sacrificing your very life?"**

I shook my head. Yes, yes she was. "I'll keep the circle up until h-help gets here. T-then what will you do." I wasn't letting this thing in, it wasn't getting me or my friends.

IT screamed again, but this time the circle blocked the worst of it.

"You'd better r-run before Dumbledore gets here and kicks your arse."

IT glared at me out of Quirrell's face before speaking, its voice straightforward and concise, so there could be no misunderstanding. **"I'm going to break you."** IT wasn't a boast. It was an oath. It would break me.

I forced my voice to be steady when I responded, "Bring it."

IT screamed again, before slashing its wand at the empty air. A Way opened and the black ooze shot from Quirrell's body and through the Way. It closed and Quirrell's remains hit the ground.

I didn't trust that it was gone, it could just be waiting for me to let down my guard, to get at my friends, to get at me.

To break me.

I fought a shiver before I closed my eyes and focused on maintaining the circle until help came.

**888**

_Alex_

When I woke up, sandwiched once more between Pansy and Hermione, there was a moment of confusion. How had I gotten here? The last thing I remembered was Voldemort getting Spartan kicked into the Mirror.

When Madam Pomfrey came into sight, shaking her head at us, my confusion only increased. "Awake at last, Miss Potter?"

I nodded, "Could you help me get out of here?" I would have done it myself, but my wand wasn't where it was supposed to be, namely in a holster on my arm.

"Do you know how many times I separated the three of you last night?" Madam Pomfrey asked, sounding a little annoyed.

I shook my head meekly, "No ma'am."

She sighed before switching me with a pillow on a nearby bed. "Now be still and let me work." Before I could even respond she was already waving her wand over me in complicated patterns. "Much better. Your knee is healed and the dark magic seems to have dissipated."

"Dark magic?" I asked confused, and more than a little concerned.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "No need to worry, dear. It's normal to have some of it clinging to you after something like that happens. The important thing to remember is that you're safe and healthy."

"Oh, okay," I said.

"That's the spirit dear," She smiled comfortingly. "I'd best go get Professor Dumbledore, he wanted to talk to as soon as you were awake."

With that she went to her office, and there must have been a Floo in there because out walked Dumbledore not a minute later.

"How are you feeling, Miss Potter?" Dumbledore asked, after sitting down in a conjured armchair.

"Pretty good considering… everything," I said honestly.

"Lemon drop?" he asked, getting out a small bag of the things. I nodded, and happily accepted a handful. "Now I know it's going to be difficult, but I need you to go over what happened last night."

I did, starting from when Voldemort took us to when I passed out. "That's all I remember." The only thing I left out was my attempt at Legilimency.

"That must have been trying," Dumbledore said. "That you and your friends managed to accomplish what you did is most impressive, almost Gryffindor-ish." His twinkling eyes told me he was attempting to lighten the mood.

"More Ravenclaw-ish, I'd say. After all 'twas my wit that saved the day, not simple bravery," I said haughtily, before sobering up. "Sir, what was she after? She kept saying something about a Stone, but what stone?" I wanted to see how honest Dumbledore would be with me. I admit I was surprised by his answer.

"Voldemort was under the impression that the Philosopher's Stone was here."

"Was it?" I asked.

"What do you know about the Philosopher's Stone Miss Potter?" Dumbledore asked instead.

"You can use it for two things, either to make gold from lead or to make the Elixir of Life," I said.

Dumbledore nodded, "Do you know who made it?" I nodded, and he continued. "Master Flamel made it in the early sixteen hundreds as a way to try and save his wife who was dying. He knew the only way to save her was the Elixir of Life and the only way to make that was to make the Philosopher's Stone. He made it and saved her life. The problem came when others found out that he had managed to make it."

"What'd he do?" I asked.

"What was he to do? Master Flamel was a Master Alchemist but he was no fighter. So he did what any intelligent man would do, he let Mistress Perenelle handle it."

"Mistress Perenelle?" I asked. "Isn't that his wife?"

"Yes, and anyone who tries to rob a former Merlin of the White Council is just asking for trouble." A former Merlin? I blinked. Holy shit. "But after the first hundred assassination attempts passed and they showed no sign of slowing down they realized they had to try something different."

Dumbledore paused to take a drink of water before continuing.

"Using his stone Master Flamel was able to make a false or temporary Philosopher's Stone. The False Stone was only good for one dose of Elixir but they were willing to part with it, for a price. Since then Master Flamel has made several of these False Stones…"

"And you had one?" I asked, interrupting. "How did you get it?"

"Now that is a story for another time," Dumbledore chuckled, before standing and vanishing his chair. "Well, I best be off. Your friends will be up soon and I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

"Don't you need to talk to them?" I asked.

"I spoke with them last night," He answered before leaving.

I closed my eyes and leaned back, suddenly realizing just how tired I was. Last night had taken more out of me than I thought. Without someone to distract me I found myself drifting off to sleep.

**888**

Three guesses where I woke up, and the first two don't count.

Anyway, after we were dismissed from the Hospital Wing, Pansy, Hermione, and I made our way to the Room of Requirement for a much needed talk.

"So how are you two doing?" I asked as I sat in one of the Room's couches. Last night couldn't have been easy for them, it sure as hell wasn't easy for me.

"I'm doing okay," Hermione said. When Pansy and I both looked at her she amended her answer, "I said I'm okay, not perfect." She hugged her knees to her chest. "Last night was horrible, but it's not like it's the first time someone tried to kill us." I grimaced at that, twelve year-olds should not say things like that.

"True, but with what he said to you..." Pansy said.

"What he said?" I asked.

"After you passed out, well IT got back up." Hermione said before telling me exactly what happened. I was horrified, she had the attention of Voldemort himself. On the other hand I was very impressed, telling Voldemort off with only a circle between him and you? There were fully trained Wizards that wouldn't be able to do that. "Enough about me. How are you doing, Pansy?"

"Me? I'm fine." At our looks she sighed. "Really, I'm fine. Annoyed that that bastard isn't dead, but fine."

"Right..." I said, drawing the word out disbelievingly.

Pansy rolled her eyes, "Anyway, I thought we were here to talk about you." She looked me straight in the eye.

"It was a trying night, but I'm fine now," I said, deliberately misinterpreting her.

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it," Pansy said, narrowing her eyes. She was about to say something else, no doubt something quite irritable, but Hermione beat her to it.

"Alex, you said the movies got a lot right, but how right did they get the people in them?" Hermione looked like she knew the answer but was hoping she was wrong. Well, that certainly explains why she was so upset yesterday, she thought I was only her friend because I saw her in a movie.

"Hermione, I'm your friend because I like you," I said.

"You're avoiding the question," Hermione said.

"Some of them were good, but most of them were very wrong." I sighed, "But that's not the question you want to ask, is it?"

She finally looked up at me, her eyes were filled with tears. "Are you my friend because of the movies?"

"I am your friend," I gestured to Pansy. "I am Pansy's friend because of who you are, who you both are. Not because of some movie, not because of anything else, but because I genuinely like the two of you." I pulled her into a hug.

"Promise?" Hermione asked softly.

"Promise," I said, before pulling back.

"Just out of curiosity, how were we portrayed in these movies?" Pansy asked.

"Well, movie Hermione was basically very rules obsessed, considered Professors to be the end all, be all of authority. Bastions of right and wrong, basically," I said.

Hermione blinked, "That doesn't really sound like me. I mean rules are important, but some things are more important and Professors are just people."

I nodded, "Exactly." I turned to Pansy and grinned. "You, well the best way to describe you would be 'Draco's wannabe wife.'" The look on Pansy's face was priceless, and the ensuing paint fight was well worth it.

**888**

Half an hour and few dozen color changes later we settled down to talk and I placed a box on the table. Pansy and Hermione looked at it for a moment before giving me an expectant look.

I, however, remained silent. Content to simply stare at them and wait.

Pansy broke first, "Okay, I give. What's in the box?"

I smirked before opening the box and, using a pair of tongs, showed them what was inside.

"Is that...?" Hermione asked.

I nodded, "Ravenclaw's Diadem." Hermione made to touch it but I jerked it away from her. "Don't touch."

"Trapped?" Hermione asked.

"In a manner of speaking," I put it back in the box and locked it. "This is one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes."

"What's a Horcrux?" Pansy asked, her voice intent.

"A Horcrux is a nearly indestructible object that contains a sliver of a soul, in this case the Dark Lord's soul," I explained. "As long as even one of these things exist he can't die."

"Like a Soul Jar?" Hermione asked. I nodded. "But those are all or nothing, either you put your whole soul in or it doesn't work."

I shrugged, "That's why it's a Horcrux and not a Soul Jar."

"How do we destroy it?" Pansy asked. She hadn't looked up from the box since I put the Diadem away.

"The only way I know of is Basilisk venom," I said.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go find some," Pansy said, finally looking up. An eager look gleamed in her eyes.

Hermione and I traded looks.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked.

"Of course I'm fine, why?" Pansy asked.

"You seem jumpy," I said.

"Just eager to kill the bastard," Pansy said, before giving me a weird look. "Aren't you?"

"This is only one of his Horcruxes, destroying it won't kill him," I said.

"How many does he have?!" Pansy demanded.

"Between five and seven," I said. "I think."

"Between five and seven?! You think?!" Pansy shouted.

"I watched the movies over ten years ago and, if anything, it's been longer than that since I read about them. But five or seven sounds right," I said. "Sorry if my memory isn't perfect!"

Pansy took a deep breath, "No, I'm sorry. I just really want him dead."

"I get that, a lot of people want him dead, but it seems personal for you." I blinked. "Pansy, is he your mother?" It would make sense, Pansy's mom had apparently tortured the heck out of her dad. From what Pansy had said about her dad, he was messed up thoroughly. More than enough to make her want vengeance.

And it's not like it would be the first time a same sex couple had had children that were biologically theirs. There were a dozen rituals and potions that could help with that, though I didn't think Voldemort would want to be the woman of the relationship. Then again I hadn't expected him to possess Madam Hooch, so what did I know?

"What!?" Hermione asked, looking nearly as startled as I felt.

"I am only going to say this once," Pansy said, looking me straight in the eye. "The Dark Lord is not my mother." She sighed, "But you could say that he introduced them."

"Oh," I nodded. "Makes sense."

"Now that _that's_ out of the way, can we get back to destroying the damn thing?" Pansy asked.

"It's not that easy, I'm pretty sure the Basilisk is still alive and, while I think it will listen to me because I'm a speaker, I'm not positive," I said. I had planned on going down there sometime after Voldemort, or rather whoever he was possessing, was taken care of this year. But without my broom I was bereft of a fast exit if the Basilisk turned violent. I explained that to them. "…and even if I had my broom it would only seat two."

"Too bad the Room can't just make you a broom," Hermione said frowning.

I blinked, "Actually, that gives me an idea." I stood and started for the door, only to stop when I realized they weren't following me. "Come on!" I said, "Oh, and grab the box please."

I waited in the hall for them to catch up, and once they joined me I had the Room summon the storeroom where I first got the Diadem.

"We can't take anything out of the Room that it makes, but we can take out things that are put in it," I said. "And through the years the elves have stuffed it full of a lot of things. I'm willing to bet that there's at least one broom in there."

Once the door appeared I opened it and performed the summoning charm. "Accio brooms." The spell took more out of me than I expected, but I didn't think much of it. I'd had a hard day yesterday, some residual weakness wasn't out of the ordinary.

At least that's what I thought, but as I saw the swarm of brooms headed my way I realized I should probably have been more precise in my wording. I also realized that the swarm of brooms was traveling at a fair clip and if they hit me I would probably resemble a porcupine. So being the wise and well-traveled individual that I am, I released a squeak of dismay and dropped to the floor.

Before the brooms could even reach me Pansy closed the door. I got to my feet and, after the sound of brooms impacting the wall stopped, opened the door and grabbed three of them before closing it again. I kept one for myself and gave the others to Pansy and Hermione, who were for some reason giving me matching looks of exasperation.

I blinked innocently, "What? Did you change your minds, or are we still doing this?"

"Really? You're not even goi—you know what? Never mind, let's just go," Pansy said.

I mounted the broom and, once safely invisible, started smirking. "Well? Let's go." Tension safely dissipated.

Pansy and Hermione quickly followed suit, and together we flew to Myrtle's bathroom. Thankfully no one was around. Even so, before I opened the entrance I made sure to use my magic sense just to be safe.

"Before we do this," I said, speaking to an invisible audience, "If the Basilisk gets violent we fly out of there fastest, got it?" My audience voiced agreement and I hissed at the sink. "_Open_." Even though I couldn't see them I still heard their reaction—matching intakes of breath, a nearly palpable shudder, followed by a sudden silence.

"Right, follow me," I said, before starting down the tunnel.

The tunnel was slimy. Unidentifiable goop dripped from every surface of the place and the smell was horrible. It took nearly ten minutes of flying at a good clip before we left the tunnel and entered the Chamber proper. It was about what I expected; wet, slimy, smelly, and decorated with far too many snake motifs.

"Through the door," I whispered, and only continued when I heard Pansy and Hermione voice agreement. "_Open_." This time I ignored their reactions and flew through the door. Only to freeze when I saw the Basilisk waiting for us, or rather, what was left of it.

The head of the Basilisk was resting on the floor near the entrance. It only had one eye and its neck abruptly stopped a few feet down. A large puddle of what I think was congealed blood stained the floor around it. The rest of the snake hung, limply, from the statue of Salazar Slytherin.

"Does it need to be alive for the venom to work?" Pansy asked.

"You're supposed to be quiet," I said, still staring at the head.

"It's dead, I don't think talking is going to make it attack us, Ice Queen," Pansy said.

"As long as the venom's there, it should work," I said. "You want to do the honors?"

"I'll do it," Hermione said, sounding determined. I frowned, last night had really affected her if she wanted to do this.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yes," Hermione said.

Pansy and I levitated the Basilisk's mouth open, and Hermione carefully placed the Diadem inside with the tongs.

"Back away, it shouldn't be dangerous but better safe than sorry," I said. I gave her a moment to fly backwards. "NOW!"

Both Pansy and I released the levitation spell, and the mouth swung closed. The fangs came down and hit the Diadem head on. Nothing happened.

I stared at it open mouthed, and still, nothing happened.

I started panicking.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: **

**Falling Action? HA!**

_Ebenezar McCoy_

I woke up today knowing it was going to be a bad day. Worse than the past week, which was saying something considering that one of the Senior Council had been murdered just a few days prior. The Blackstaff, from which I take my unofficial name from, was positively thrumming with anticipation, as it was wont to do before it was going to be used, as it had before Krakatoa and the Tunguska Event. The Blackstaff wanted to be used, and when it sensed an opportunity to kill it let me know. Often I tried to find another way, the staff was dangerous, more dangerous than anyone except perhaps the Gatekeeper knew. More often than not I find that I have no choice in the matter.

I was already preparing for battle when my grandson, Harry Dresden, walked into my office looking like death warmed over and slumped into one of my easy chairs. I felt a familiar anger at his appearance, and the urge to go find out what had hurt my family surged forward. The Blackstaff pulsed in agreement from its home in the Nevernever. I swallowed my anger with the ease of long practice—it would serve no useful purpose now. Later maybe, but not now.

"You look like the south side of a north bound horse, hoss." I said, baiting him. When he made no move to respond I tried again. "Hell boy, what hit you?" It took him a minute to respond, but when he did my blood ran cold.

He groaned and finally looked at me. "Skinwalker, Sir."

"Is it still following you?" I leaned forward, waiting impatiently for an answer. Skinwalkers were minor dark gods that made a habit of eating wizards to steal their magic. If one was after him I would need to pull out all the stops to deal with it.

"No, I took care of it. That's not why I'm here though." He shook his head and looked around my office carefully. "Can you seal the room?" I frowned and, using wards that the original Merlin had carved, sealed the room from most if not all forms of eavesdropping. Once done I nodded at him to continue. "My cop friend got a call yesterday, all deep throat style, and said to tell me that the ink the Council was using was being used to influence you." He nodded towards my fingers, my _ink_ _stained_ fingers. I frowned.

"What makes you think the information is legitimate?" I asked. My grandson was a good detective—if he thought the information was good then he had a good reason for thinking so.

"Normally I wouldn't give it real consideration, it wouldn't be the first time someone had tried to send me on a wild goose chase, but everything they said has panned out," he said.

"Everything?" I asked.

"Well, most everything. I haven't had an opportunity to check the last thing, but apart from that, everything." He nodded. "The only reason I'm still alive is because I did a Sanctum Invocation just like the informant said." I got a sinking feeling in my gut.

"Just where did you…"

"Demonreach, or at least that's what I'm calling it." He sounded inordinately proud of himself at that. "There's this island in…"

"Lake Michigan," I sighed at his nod. "Do you have _any_ idea what that place is?"

"A prison. I lured shagnasty to the island and had Demonreach take it below." A satisfied grin spread across his face. "It's never getting out."

"You didn't use the island's ley line, did you? I don't think you're ready for that just yet." Hell, I would think long and hard about using that place's magic and I had three centuries on him.

"No sir, I just had it sent below," he said respectfully. "But that is why I think the information's good. If they hadn't called I might have had to try something crazy." As if bonding to that island wasn't already absolutely insane.

"What, exactly, did they say about the ink?" I asked, tabling the other topic for now. He pulled out a piece of notebook paper and handed it over. The relevant part was circled.

"_Tell Dresden he needs to see, not call, see his mentor and have him, or better yet, have Wizard Listens-to-Wind check the ink that they are using to sign documents—"_

"My cop friend copied what 'Bella' said word for word." Harry nodded towards the paper. I gave the rest of it a once over.

"Why would they want you to ask your old girl about your mother?" I asked.

"I don't know sir, that's the one I haven't been able to get any information on." He shrugged. "Getting in contact with Susan is difficult at the best of times. Doing so while running for my life is next to impossible."

"I'll go get Injun Joe to give the ink a look." When Harry made to stand, I shook my head. "Hoss, you look like hell. You stay here and let me handle it." He didn't look happy about it but he settled back into his chair. I lowered the wards and stepped outside, nearly running into Rashid.

"Didn't think you'd be back for a while yet," I said, closing the door to my office. I gave him a look—he didn't look much better than my grandson did, which did not bode well. The Gatekeeper was generally calm and composed. "Something wrong?" If Rashid was here looking like that, then all hell was about to break loose.

"I'm not sure." He stroked his short beard contemplatively. "Something is usually wrong, it's the way of things." Always with the cryptic answers, could he never just answer plainly?

"Right then, well I'd best be going. Important business to take care of." I took off and he fell into step beside me as I made my way through Edinburgh. When he made no move to speak I decided to keep talking. If I was lucky I might just be able to get something from his reaction. "Did you kill anything interesting?"

"It certainly thought it was interesting," Rashid said absently. Well okay then. I nodded sagely. When at a loss on how to deal with new information I find that a sage nod is often all that is usually required to reassure your audience that you know what you're talking about. "If you're looking for Wizard Listens-to-Wind, I believe he has retired to his room."

I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye, but nonetheless corrected my course, and quickly found myself standing outside Injun Joe's room. It was guarded by two junior Wardens, who quickly stepped aside to let us in. Once inside we found him feeding his raccoon familiar.

"Hillbilly, Gatekeeper," Injun Joe said. "How can I help you?"

"I need you to check Peabody's ink. I have it on good authority that it's been used to cloud our judgment," I said gravely.

"Are you saying our minds have been influenced?" At my nod Injun Joe sighed sadly. "If our minds have been tampered with, then perhaps Morgan is innocent after all?" Before I could respond to that, he stood up. "No, best I see to the ink before speculating on possibilities. If you would ensure that Peabody is distracted while I work?"

I nodded and left to do just that. Somewhere along the way the Gatekeeper managed to slip away without me noticing. I ignored it—he made a habit of doing that when no one was looking. I found Peabody in one of the mess halls. I grabbed something to eat myself and sat with him.

"Wizard McCoy, how may I help you?" Peabody asked, looking up from his salad.

"I had a question about one of the forms…" I engaged him in small talk until a grim looking Injun Joe entered the room and gave me a single nod.

I don't know what gave me away. Maybe it was a slight tightening of my eyes, maybe it was the sudden tension in my frame, or maybe it was because I had stopped eating my steak. Whatever it was, Peabody had jumped up from the table and right through a seemingly solid wall. That wasn't what held my attention, though. What caught my attention was the sudden and absolute darkness and the shrill screams that followed it.

The mess hall had been occupied by a smattering of Wardens, and Wardens didn't just scream like that. Whatever Peabody had loosed was bad, and then I felt it. A cold, hard hatred of all things mortal. An Outsider. It screeched in jubilation at the sudden feast it was offered, nearly sending me to my knees.

"_Fòs miray!_" I shouted, sending a wave of force careening away from me in every direction. I could feel the invisible force hit the shadowy form of the Outsider, sliding right off the thing, succeeding only in drawing me to its attention. That was, of course, what I was trying for. If it was focused on me then it wouldn't be killing anyone else, at least that was the plan. Before it could try and get me I shouted once more. "_Dyaman flanm dife!_" Fire hot enough to cut through steel hit the Outsider and failed to do more than inconvenience it. 

I was preparing another spell, one that would hopefully contain it, when, without me summing it, the Blackstaff appeared in my hand. The Outsider, which had so far been implacable, recoiled and a bit of light appeared. Enough for me to see the bodies of the other diners. Thankfully Injun Joe was not among them.

The Outsider screamed at the Blackstaff, and the staff responded through me.

"_She returns!_" It wasn't English or any other language I spoke. Yet, somehow, I understood the words coming out of my mouth. The Blackstaff pulsed once, twice and, without consciously deciding to, I slammed it into the floor releasing a cascade of rippling entropy. The Outsider didn't even get a chance to respond before it, and everything in the room was reduced to dust.

I gave the room another look. What the hell?

The Blackstaff vanished, returning to its home, just as Rashid and Injun Joe walked in, the trussed up form of Peabody floating behind them. I didn't know what had just happened, but I would find out.

**888**

No.

No!

_No!_

I stared at the Diadem, trapped between the fangs of the Basilisk, and I got mad. I usually had a pretty long fuse, but this was too much.

Was it not enough that I had been banished to this, _this_ hellhole at the ass-end of the multiverse, leaving everything I had ever known or loved behind? Was it not enough that I got to see my new parents murdered in front of me? Was it not enough that I had gotten dumped into the role of the freaking Chosen One?

Now the one thing I needed to go right, the one freaking thing I needed to work, didn't. All my plans, already having gone through a dozen rewrites, hinged on me being able to destroy the Horcruxes, and the only way I knew for sure to destroy them was with Basilisk venom. Which they, apparently, were immune to.

My wand found its way into my hand and I screamed out a curse at the Diadem, at the Basilisk, at the entire _fucking_ universe. "_Bombarda! Bombarda Maxima!_" I poured all my anger, hate and frustration into them, and it showed.

Whatever defense against magic the Basilisk had in life, it lacked in death. The curses slammed home. The first one blew open the Basilisk's jaw, leaving little more than the bottom of the head intact. When the second one hit, the Basilisk's head practically disintegrated, bones and skin went flying. It was only blind luck, and a hasty shield cast by my friends, that kept us from being perforated.

I glared at the perfectly intact Diadem as it sat only a few feet in front of me. The shield had stopped it from slamming into me.

I pointed my wand at it and a green light, that no one could see, gathered at its tip.

"Alex?!" Hermione asked sounding panicked. "Alex, are you alright?" I glared at the Horcrux for a long moment, before slipping my wand back into its holster. It probably wouldn't work anyway.

"Sorry," I said.

"Alex?" Pansy asked. "What happened?"

"I don't know, everything I know says that the venom should have destroyed it." I gave a bitter laugh. "All my plans hinged on it." I felt drained, not just magically but emotionally as well.

"Plans?" Pansy asked. She sounded closer.

"I've been planning how to kill the Dark Lord since, well, since I was born. This time that is, not last time," I said, staring at the Diadem. Tears started flowing down my face. "Why didn't it work?"

"Maybe the venom's gone?" Hermione asked.

"Now maybe, but I saw some clear liquid hit the shield and it wasn't water. Smelled wrong," Pansy said. "So basilisk venom doesn't work. Is there any other way to destroy them?"

"…Fiendfyre I think," I said after a moment, still staring at the Diadem. "Maybe a Dementor."

Why didn't it work?

I knew I was just repeating myself, that I was just going in circles but…

…if it had worked, all I would have had to do was find the rest of the Horcruxes and destroy them. After that, all that was left was the simple, if extremely difficult, matter of killing Voldemort. He was certainly powerful, but without the Horcruxes he was mortal. Drop Dumbledore and a few dozen Aurors on him and he would die.

"Can you _please_ not say his name?" Pansy said.

"…did I say that out loud?" I asked.

"Yes!" Pansy said. I could feel her glaring in my general direction.

"Oh," I said, blushing. Honestly, I need to work on my zoning out.

"Maybe we should get back to the Room," Hermione said. Pansy and I agreed and, after carefully packing the Diadem away, we made our way back to the Room.

I slumped on one of the Room's couches and sighed before pulling off my cloak. Pansy abruptly stumbled and I raised my brow. Pansy never stumbled. She was always sure footed.

"You okay?" Hermione asked.

"Fine," Pansy said, even as she shot me a look. "So Basilisk venom is out. Fiendfyre or Dementors, right?"

"I think so, but then I was sure the venom would work," I said.

"If they don't?" Pansy asked.

I sighed, "Then all my plans go out the window." And the world, or at least Britain, got a new Overlord.

"What plans exactly?" Hermione asked.

"Since I was reborn and found out I was a Potter I've been trying to figure out how to kill _him_, preferably before he could kill me." If I was being honest, the only reason I actually came to Hogwarts was because I had no other choice. If I could have gotten my family to move away, and if I had been at all confident in our chances of getting away, I'd have taken it, consequences be damned.

Of course that wasn't an option. Had never been an option. I sighed before continuing. "Of course, that was before I found out this universe was a crossover with the Dresden Files…"

"The Dresden Files? As in Warden Dresden, slayer of the Summer Lady?" Pansy asked. I smiled and nodded, it was easy to forget that Dresden's accomplishments were real here and not simply something I read about.

"Yes, that Dresden." I shook my head. Honestly, killing the old Summer Lady was one of his lesser accomplishments. I took a moment to really consider that—killing a minor god was one of his _lesser_ accomplishments. No wonder most things gave Chicago a wide berth. "Anyway, finding out about that reduced my plans to find the Horcruxes, destroy them, and then kill him. Preferably without putting myself in direct danger."

"The best plans are simple," Pansy said. "But that seems a little bare bones."

"Flexible," I corrected. "The word you're looking for is flexible."

"Sure," Pansy rolled her eyes. "Okay so you knew he was coming for you when you were born, right?" I nodded and she continued, "So why didn't you run? Or get your parents to run?" She meant it as an innocent question I'm sure, but that didn't help much.

I swallowed my first response, and my second. When I did respond it was still harsher than I would have liked. "I tried! They wouldn't listen and I couldn't talk! By the time I could wrap my lips around multisyllabic sentences my parents were dead!" I suddenly realized I was shouting in Pansy's face. I forced myself to take a step back and lower my voice. "My parents are dead because of me! He killed them! _Because of me!_ If I hadn't been so goddamned useless my parents would still be alive right now!" I took a ragged breath, about to continue, when Pansy drew me into a hug. I held myself stiff for a moment before relaxing into her.

"I'm sorry," Pansy said, as I started sobbing. It was my fault, it was all my fault. It wasn't until she started talking again that I realized I had spoken aloud. "No it wasn't. It's his fault." She held me at arm's length and looked me straight in the eye. "It's his fault, not yours."

"But…" I said, objecting even though I knew she was right. Logically it wasn't my fault, but logic had nothing to do with emotion.

"She's right, it's not your fault," Hermione said. "You tried to warn them that was all you could do."

I looked away, "Sure." They pulled me into another hug, and we stayed like that for a long time.

**888**

The rest of term passed with a kind of blessed banality. I went to class and Saturday study sessions, and I trained against golems and whatever else Pansy's demented mind could come up with. I finally beat a level three golem without my cloak, but only after Hermione had managed to beat one the week before.

Before I knew it we were on the Hogwarts Express headed towards London.

"You ready?" Hermione asked, holding the sealed envelope containing her final grades for the year.

I nodded, "Yes." I opened mine and looked at my grades. "EE in everything except Charms and Potions where I got an O!"

"Very good," Hermione said, smirking. "O's in everything for me."

"So it's a tie?" I asked referring to our bet.

Her smirk grew, "Not quite, I do believe an O+ beats an O, doesn't it?"

"You're making that up!" I said. "There's no pluses." She showed me her grades. She wasn't making it up. "Dammit."

"And now you can't say that awful not-word anymore," Hermione said triumphantly.

"You don't need to be so smug about it," I said sullenly. Hermione just smiled and opened up Hogwarts: A History. "Fine, be like that then. I'll just go sit with Pansy." I stood and made my way to the door when Hermione spoke up.

"And deal with Malfoy?" I slumped back into my seat, defeated. Hermione didn't say anything, but her smirk said a thousand words. None of them nice.

"Pansy is a horrible influence on you," I grumbled.

Hermione flipped a page, never looking up. "Sure, it was _all_ Pansy." I narrowed my eyes her and resolved to just ignore her. I pulled out next year's Charms book, I would win next year. Hermione's smirk deepened, and I scowled at my book.

The rest of the trip passed in silence.

**888**

Once we made it to the station, Hermione and I gathered our things and went outside to meet her parents.

"How have the last few months been?" Mrs. Granger asked after giving Hermione a hug. Mr. Granger was apparently currently drilling into some poor soul's teeth at the moment, and couldn't be here.

"Good, really good," Hermione said. After what had happened with Voldemort I had expected her to withdraw like she did after the Mirror incident, but she hadn't. Or, well, she did at first, but she bounced back surprisingly quickly and by the time we were taking our exams she was back to her old self. "I made straight O's, and won our bet!"

"Bet?" Mrs. Granger asked, smiling inquisitively at us.

"If she beat me at Charms I couldn't say a word she hates," I said.

"What word?" Mrs. Granger asked. "Nothing bad, I hope?"

I just looked at Hermione, I'd given my word that I wouldn't say 'irregardless' regardless of what happened and a magic user that broke their word quickly came to regret it. If a witch or wizard gave their word and broke it they would find it slightly more difficult to use magic. Break your word enough times and working magic would become all but impossible. It was one of the main reasons that someone's given word was so highly respected in the supernatural community.

"Regardless," Hermione said. "But the other one."

"Regardless?" Mrs. Granger said, looking confused. Before shaking her head. "Never mind, as long as the two of you had fun." She put her hand on  
Hermione's shoulder. "Well, we'd best be off. We're meeting your father for dinner."

"But I wanted to say goodbye to Pansy!" Hermione said looking at the Express, Pansy had yet to come out.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but we have to get going," Mrs. Granger said, before she turned to look at me. "I hope you have a nice summer, dear."

I pulled Hermione into a hug, "Call me, ok?"

"I will," Hermione said, before leaving with her mom.

I watched them exit the platform before turning towards the train in time to see Pansy and a shaky looking Draco exit the train. They exchanged some words that I couldn't hear before Draco went over to his parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy looked regal. Their posture, their clothes and their makeup were all specifically applied to get one thing across—_I am better than you, I have more money than you and nothing you do will ever change that._ It was about what I expected, so why did Draco look so worried?

He made his way over to them and they exchanged polite greetings, no hugs or smiles, presumably it was against the Pureblood Rules, before leaving through the nearest fireplace.

"What was that about?" I asked Pansy, who had made her way over to me.

She gave me a look and nodded to the exit, "Outside?" I nodded and we exited the platform. We found an empty bench and sat down.

"Draco seemed scared," I said.

Pansy nodded, "He didn't even want to leave the compartment." She sounded concerned. "Ever since his Grandfather died he's been out of it."

"Natural causes?" I asked.

"He had been sick for a long time," Pansy said.

"But?"

"But he was only just getting into his first century. That's a young age for a wizard to die at, sickness or no, especially for one of the Old Houses," Pansy said.

I was about to respond when I heard Dudley shout, "Alex!" I looked over to see him and Aunt Petunia exiting the ice cream shop a few dozen yards down. They started in our direction.

Before they could get close enough to hear us I turned to Pansy. "Maybe you should visit him during the summer?"

"I think I will," she said, before standing and smiling at my aunt and cousin.

"Dudley!" I said as he pulled me into a hug. "You look skinnier, have you been eating enough?" He was still a pudgy child, but that was starting to give way to the awkward gangliness of teens everywhere. Odd considering he was only eleven.

"Dad's been showing me how to fight!" Dudley said proudly. "He says I got a natural boxer's build." He finally noticed Pansy and fell silent.

"Is this one of your friends from school?" Aunt Petunia asked, when she finally caught up with Dudley.

I nodded and introduced them, "Pansy, this is Aunt Petunia and Dudley. Dudley, Aunt Petunia, this is Pansy."

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you," Pansy said, her voice perfectly polite.

Dudley waved, his face red, and Aunt Petunia smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Alex writes so much about you and... who was the other one?"

"Hermione," Pansy said, giving me a teasing look.

"Hermione, that's right. Well she writes so much about the two of you I feel like I know you already," Aunt Petunia said.

"I don't write that much," I protested.

"If you say so, dear," Aunt Petunia said, before looking around. "Who's picking you up, dear?" She looked at Pansy.

"I was just saying goodbye to Alex, then I'm going to catch the Knight Bus." Pansy said.

Aunt Petunia frowned, "A bus? Is that safe?"

"It's perfectly safe Ma'am, lots of kids use it to get around and there's never any problems," Pansy said, before looking at a nearby clock. "I'm sorry, but if I don't leave now I'll have to wait another hour for it to get back to the station." She pulled me into a hug, "Make sure you write."

"I will," I promised, letting her go. I had already told her and Hermione that my letters might be intercepted during the summer, depending on if Dobby made an appearance, and if he did she was supposed to just write Hermione who would call with any pertinent details.

Pansy nodded at my Aunt and cousin before leaving.

"We're still going to Madam Foo's right?" I asked, as we started for the car. Hogwarts elves were great cooks but I had been craving Chinese something fierce the last few weeks.

At Aunt Petunia's nod I cheered. My summer was already off to a great start. Hopefully it would stay like that, because if there was one good thing about being the Harry Potter of this universe it was that summers were usually very peaceful.

(Looking back, that may have been tempting fate.)


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24:**

**Summer Times **

My summer had, so far, been great. I slept in late, did my homework, made sure to stay in shape, and reveled in the complete lack of life-threatening situations. The closest thing to a problem I had was getting used to sleeping alone. As annoying as it was to have to escape from bed every morning, I had gotten used to sleeping in a full bed. Still, that was easily solved by several large stuffed animals. It wasn't a great fix but it worked well enough. (Don't look at me like that, I'm an eleven going on twelve year old girl. Stuffed animals are perfectly normal.)

"Alex?" Dudley asked from where he stood at the door to my room.

"Hmm?" I asked as I finished off one of my Potions essays, 'Ten uses for Belladonna'. I had the feeling that Snape was in a mood when he assigned it. I mean I could only find a few uses for it that didn't end with someone dying, and that seemed an odd assignment for second years. But then, what did I know?

"I think the purple one is staring at me," Dudley said, giving my stuffed purple fox an anxious look. He shifted the styrofoam war axe to get a better grip on it. I gave the ink a moment to dry before rolling up the essay, then turned to look at the fox.

"It's not looking at you, Dudley. I promise." I turned back to him. "Did you want anything?" I had some more essays to go over, but I had more than a month left to do them, so I was in no hurry.

"Mum said you have to come eat if you want to go the movies later," Dudley said, giving the fox one last distrustful look before heading downstairs to eat. I sighed and put my things away before heading down.

"…I still don't understand why the two of you need to dress up. It's just a movie," Aunt Petunia said as I came into the kitchen. She looked at me and just sighed at my short blue hair.

"It's not just a movie!" Dudley said. "It's _the_ movie!"

"_Fantasy Battle: Rise of the Emperor_ is no simple movie, it's a cultural icon," I said passionately. "It's the Red Director's climactic final masterpiece before he retires to his private island to count his money!" I was speaking literally. The Red Director was an enigmatic figure in the entertainment industry. Every three years or so he released a movie, a show, or a book and invariably whatever he released was a hit. Then he'd fade away to, as he put it, count his money, not to be seen until he put out his next masterpiece.

I had money on him being a Sidhe of some sort. Not that it mattered to me, I was just excited for the movie.

"…right," Aunt Petunia said. She placed some delicious looking sandwiches on the table. "Eat up and we'll head out." Dudley and I dug in, and before we knew it we were leaving for the movie.

**888**

We got there early enough that we managed to load up on snacks and get our favorite seats without having to push through a crowd of people. Not that we needed to bother—the theater was almost empty. Even more than I would have expected for a Tuesday afternoon showing. I mean I saw maybe ten people aside from the staff.

"Does it seem a little empty to you?" I asked Aunt Petunia as we took our seats. Aside from us there were only two people in the room with us. One at the top of the seats, just under the projector, and one in the front row. From what I could tell, both were men. They were both sitting down and from what I could tell they were both in good shape.

The lights dimmed and Aunt Petunia leaned over towards me. "It's a work day, I'm sure it's fine." With that she focused back on the opening trailers. I frowned and closed my eyes.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I cast my senses outwards, looking for something to explain my unease. I expected to find a spell of some sort, maybe an aversion ward, but the first thing that came to the fore was a primal energy. Like the Jensens. Like their wards. Like Wolf.

Werewolves.

Why would werewolves be here? They could be here to simply watch the movie, but I doubted it. I had a destiny, coincidence did not exist for me. I heard the movie start and I waited a moment for them to do something. It was a good time for an ambush, but they stayed where they were.

I frowned and cast out further. There wasn't anything besides ambient magic anywhere nearby. I waited a while for something to happen, but nothing did. I came back to myself and palmed my wand. If something happened I wanted to be ready.

I focused back on the screen. I'd missed most of the set up but it was the second movie in the series. I had a good idea what was happening. On screen a regenerating zombie horde was assaulting New York City, and the city's defenders were losing. In spite of myself I found my attention ensnared by the movie to the point that I cheered at the Young-Emperor's arrival, especially when he activated a mechanized Lady Liberty. Her torch turning into a lightsaber was just icing on the cake.

The only problem came when the colors started blurring. I blinked, and when that didn't work I used my free hand to rub at them. My vision was still blurry when I opened my eyes. I looked around and noticed Aunt Petunia was slumped against the seat in front of her, and Dudley was out of it as well.

I tried to sense, but all I could feel was the werewolves from earlier. There seemed to be no reason for their, and my, states. I started slumping forward and jerked back.

Can't sleep now, need to focus.

It occurred to me that if it wasn't magic that was causing this, then it was probably gas. Gas, gas is bad. The theater has a bad case of gas. I erupted into giggles.

_Take Beno before and there will be no gas._

I giggled some more, and somehow managed to hit the seat in front of me hard enough to knock some sense into me. I jerked myself up in time to see the werewolf in the front row get beheaded by someone. My vision was too blurry to tell who did it.

I raised my wand hand. Sadly it lacked a wand. I blinked at it and looked at the floor. Ah, there you are. I started reaching for it. I overreached and fell out of my chair. I hit the ground with a small grunt, and tried to figure out why I was down here.

Here on the nice, cool ground.

I closed my eyes.

I think I'll take a nap.

**888**

When I came to it took me a moment to really understand what was going on, but when I did my heart started hammering in my chest. Someone was patting me down and systematically removing all my knives. Whoever they were, they had already removed my wand. A moment later they removed my last holdout from the small of my back.

"How many knives does one little girl need?" I opened my eyes and saw a ghoul. Ghouls are supernatural thugs. For the right price they would back most anybody. They were short on brains but made up for in terms of strength and sheer stubborn stupidity. It took a completely unfair amount of damage to even slow them down, and even if you did manage to hurt them, unless you made sure they were dead they came back. Usually after making a meal of one of the local homeless. And one of them was patting me down. I swallowed my revulsion.

The ghoul saw that I was awake and smirked at me. "Awake are we?" He grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me up. "You try anything and you'll regret it, understand?" Before I could respond he turned me to face the room—it was small, like an office—to see Aunt Petunia and Dudley passed out on the floor. Aunt Petunia had knot on her head. Either she had tried to fight back or she hit that chair a lot harder than I thought. "I can't kill you, the boss wants you alive for now. But if you try anything I will hurt them. Got it?" I nodded reluctantly, and he dropped me. The ghoul grunted in satisfaction and went to stand by the door.

I hit it the ground with a grunt, and fingered the rip in the collar of my shirt where he grabbed me. I took stock of my situation—I was trapped in a small room with a ghoul, all my weapons were gone, and unless I did something soon I was going to die. I still had my shrunken broom in my necklace—I'd had a sixth year spell the one I got from the Room for me—and my cloak.

Unfortunately neither of them would be useful in getting through the ghoul. The room was far too small for invisibility to be of any use, and while I could theoretically ram my broom into him, unless it somehow managed to hit his brain I wouldn't count on it putting him down. Moreover, I could only do that if I managed to unshrink the broom and get it up to speed before he stopped me, which was unlikely at best.

Which left a physical confrontation, something I had no hope of winning. I was four foot nothing and ninety pounds sopping wet. Without my wand or knives I was just a little girl. Beating a normal human in hand-to-hand was out of the question, let alone a ghoul, and that wasn't even counting the big rifle in his hands. I didn't know what kind of gun it was, but it looked mean enough that I doubted it would be legal in the States, let alone here in Great Britain, and _that_ wasn't even counting the grenades.

I felt a stab of hopelessness, but I pushed it down. I had to get out of here. I had to get _my family_ out of here.

I looked around the room for something that I could use, but all I could see was office supplies. The closest thing to a weapon was a pair of scissors on the desk next to me. I eyed it before turning my attention to the ghoul. He caught my eye and licked his lips. I shivered in revulsion, _cannibals_.

The ghoul smirked at me and opened his mouth to say something when his radio crackled, and someone started speaking. I couldn't understand what the voice said. I only spoke English and the voice definitely wasn't speaking that.

The Delta force wannabe spoke into his radio using the same language as the other speaker. If I was right it was Ancient Sumerian, the language of the Ghouls. He let go of the radio and looked at me. "Hear that? Ten minutes and the boss will be here." He looked over at Dudley and Aunt Petunia. "I wonder, how will they taste?" I only had ten minutes to get us out of here before things got a lot worse. Time to try something stupid.

"Hey, stupid!" I stood and grabbed the scissors off the desk.

He pointed his gun at Dudley and said, "Try it. I'll eat either way."

There was no way I could get to him before he pulled the trigger. No matter, that wasn't the plan anyway. I open the scissors and put one of the tips right to my neck. That got his attention, though he tried not to show it.

"Am I supposed to care?" He asked nonchalantly, but his eyes were focused on the blades.

"Oh, I think you care." I pressed it in just enough to draw blood. It hurt, but I had dealt with worse. He narrowed his eyes slightly. _Score_. "I think your boss wants me alive. I think if I bleed out before he gets here, you will pay the price. What do you think?"

"I think if you die that I kill your family here—"

"They're probably going to die anyway. I know that and you know that," I interrupted. "But I think that whoever your boss is they'll take it out on you before they get to my family. I think I'm just petty enough to be okay with that." The thought of them dying was abhorrent to me, but getting them out was all that mattered to me. If that meant using all of my meager ability at lying to convince him I could live with that, then so be it.

Still, I was a horrible liar, which is why I focused all my attention on him. If I looked at my family I would give it all away.

"I could just run," he said, stalling for time. I narrowed my eyes at him before slowly and deliberately dragging the scissor's blade across my throat. It only left a small red line but it gave me what I needed. He had flinched at my cut. Whoever his boss was they scared him enough that the thought of me dying made him flinch.

I smirked at him.

"Really?" I drawled. "You think you can run from a Wizard?" I was betting it was a wizard. After all, who else wanted me dead? "You're nowhere near as good at this if you think you can run from a Wizard. Especially one who no doubt took precautions against that. Do you?" I let the scissors drop to about chest level. "Have fun screaming!" I jerked my arm back up, aiming for my throat. Before I could even get it half way to my neck the ghoul launched himself across the room at me.

Which was exactly what I planning on. I may not be a physical threat to a ghoul, but I'm fast and I'm great with a blade. So as soon as the blunt outside of the scissors hit my neck I was already redirecting them towards the ghoul's neck. All I had to do was stab it the throat and it would at least be inconvenienced, if not incapacitated.

It was a bad plan, but it was the only one I had. So when the ghoul grabbed my wrist before I could land a hit and started squeezing I was dismayed, but not surprised. I swung my other fist at him, aiming for his face. This time I landed a hit, but only succeeded in hurting my hand.

He grabbed the collar of my shirt again and lifted me up. Or at least he tried. My shirt wasn't a thick thing, and with the tears already in place from the last grab it tore open. I jerked back, trying to get away, and my shirt tore even more. I couldn't get away, his grip on my wrist was too tight, but I did succeed in getting my cloak to fall on him.

That hadn't been my intention, and if this had been that cloak I remembered reading about it wouldn't have mattered, except perhaps for giving my enemy a new tool. This was _not_ that cloak. My cloak was much more loyal and, apparently, homicidal.

When my cloak fell on him he froze, much as I had done when I first touched it. Unlike me, he could still move his face. It was scrunched up in a rictus of agony, and his mouth opened in a silent scream. My cloak made its way up his arm, slowly at first, then with increasing speed. As it worked its way up his arm it disappeared. Not turned invisible, disappeared. My cloak was eating him.

It was at this point that I realized that I had never cleaned it after the fight with the Hexenwolves. When I had woken up the blood was gone. I had been too out of it at the time, but watching my cloak now I realized that it must have absorbed the blood.

After the first arm was gone it was a matter of seconds for the rest of him to follow. His face was the last to go, his expression never changing. I had no way of knowing at the time, but I got the feeling that he was completely conscious until the end. The only things left when my cloak finished were his clothes and equipment.

I spent a moment just staring at the pile of things. I was scared, worried, and more than a little distraught. My cloak had just eaten someone. Let me repeat that, _my cloak had just eaten someone!_ An enemy, yes, but that made it no less disquieting.

I took a breath. _Focus_.

I could freak out later. I had to get out of here and soon.

I grabbed my things from the pile of equipment in front of me and quickly put them back in place. I shivered slightly when my cloak slithered its way over me, but I did my best to ignore it. I needed any leg up I could get, and being invisible was an advantage I couldn't overlook.

Now how do I get out of here? I needed to find out how many ghouls there were before I could plan anything, and I need to know if there were any magical traps. Getting past the ghouls only to be stopped by a random ward would be _annoying_.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I quickly noticed the feel of four nearby ghouls. To my senses they felt, and smelt, of overripe meat. Which didn't make sense even in my head, but that was the closest comparison I could make. One was just down the hall and the others were spread throughout the building. If I were to hazard a guess I would say they were covering possible escape routes.

I extended my senses further when I didn't feel any magic—or rather anything besides ambient magic. My senses abruptly hit a wall about fifty yards outside the building. A ward. I got a feeling of both solid strength and ignorance.

Wards can be set up in a few ways, but unless you wanted them to fade away come sunrise you needed to anchor them to something. Either to a threshold, something all homes (not houses, there's a difference) have, or to ward stones. Either option would work, and each had their advantages, but the best wards used both.

It had more power to it than an impromptu ward should have. It had to have been set up using ward stones, because I didn't feel even a hint of a threshold anywhere.

I came back to myself and quickly ran through my options. Fighting was out. While I could conceivably fight my way out, it was too risky for me to attempt, especially with my family in the line of fire.

Escape it was.

I opened my necklace and retrieved my broom, bringing it to full size in the process. The broom quickly faded from view, but when I saw it I realized I couldn't fit all three of us on it. I gave the late ghoul's Kevlar vest a considering look before turning to Aunt Petunia.

"Could work," I whispered. I pointed my wand at Aunt Petunia. "_Rennervate_." Her eyes fluttered, but she didn't wake up. Dammit. The gas must still be affecting her. If it was still keeping her unconscious, then how was I up? Body weight alone should have—never mind. Focus on getting out now, worry later.

The ghoul's radio crackled and the same voice from before spoke. I still couldn't understand it, but I knew I had to hurry.

People are heavy. Unconscious people are even heaver. Even Aunt Petunia, stick thin as she is, is quite the weight for an eleven year old. Still, I was desperate and adrenaline was pumping through my veins, so with some finagling I was able to maneuver Aunt Petunia into the vest, lay her down, immobilize her with a _Petrificus Totalus_, stuff the broom up the back of the vest, and lug Dudley on top of her and the broom.

I applied a multitude of sticking charms to keep everyone in place before getting on. I gripped the broom handle protruding through the collar of the vest, willing the broom to rise as I did so. There was a tense moment when the broom didn't move, and I nearly screamed in frustration. Finally, slowly, the broom rose into the air.

"Time to go."

The ghoul's radio crackled again, but I didn't stick around to see what it said. I waved my wand at the window, "_Alohomora_." It was a tight fit but I got through the widow. Once outside I noticed we were at a warehouse of some sort. It was old, the cement was cracked and the walls were noticeably rusted.

All I had to do was get past the wards, then I could activate my portkey. With that in mind I started for the fence. About halfway there I felt something pulse below us.

I glanced down and cursed softly—someone had opened a Way. A ghoul stepped through and another ghoul followed. Right, time to get gone. I started to turn away when Bellatrix Lestrange stepped through. If I hadn't seen her face in the mirror just a few weeks ago I wouldn't have recognized her. Her hair was red and her skin was almost tan, but her face? That looked the same, all sharp edges and haunting beauty.

They were just starting for the warehouse when it exploded. It was almost as if someone had removed the pins from the dead ghoul's grenades after placing them in front of the room's only door. Like they were waiting for some unlucky ghoul to blindly open it. Who would do something like that, I wonder? Gosh, don't people know grenades are dangerous?

"What the hell was that?" Bellatrix demanded, wand in hand, her eyes scanning the area.

It took a moment but one of the ghouls got on their radio to demand answers. I swear I saw him pale before he responded to her question. "That was the room we were holding the girl in."

"Is she dead?" Bellatrix demanded, pointing her wand at the speaker.

He got on the radio again, "We can't find any bodies."

"You mean you lost the little bitch?!" Bellatrix screeched.

"We are attempting to reacquire them. They couldn't have gone far. The wards will keep them inside until we can get—" The ghoul would have continued but Bellatrix interrupted him.

"_Crucio!"_ The ghoul started screaming. His fellows shifted uneasily but made no move to stop her. Finally she stopped, only to slash her wand at him. I don't know what spell she used, but his head started swelling. It got bigger and bigger until finally it just exploded, raining gore down on her and the other ghouls.

I shivered before getting the broom to start flying towards the wards once more. The ghoul had said I couldn't just get out that way, but I wasn't willing to take his word for it.

Behind me Bellatrix started screaming at the ghouls. "Find her! Find her now, or I'll do the same thing to the lot of you!" Before she finished speaking I reached the edge of the wards and the broom abruptly slowed. It was as if I was flying through molasses—my progress was slow but I was moving. I willed the broom forward, slowly, inch by inch we pushed through. Abruptly the pressure vanished and we shot forward, no longer encumbered by the ward.

I flew on, unwilling to stop even for the few seconds it would take to activate the portkey, until we were safely out of reach. Finally, after a minute that seemed to stretch into a century, I directed us behind a nearby warehouse and activated the portkey I had stuffed in my sock.

"Mints."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25:**

**POV Time**

_Snape_

Most people who claim to know me would be surprised to learn that summer is my favorite time of year. It is not because of simple weather patterns or anything as mundane as temperature, that is what heating charms are for. No, my love for summer stems from one thing and one thing only. Summer is the only time of year that I have ample time to devote to my potions. With no interruptions.

My current project, an improved version of the Polyjuice potion, was proving to be an elusive prize. Polyjuice itself was not a difficult potion, merely tedious, but I was determined to produce something better. Something that would outshine the original in every way. Merely looking like someone was not _nearly_ enough, I would not be satisfied until—

_Ring_.

I grimaced, the alarm for Albus' office was going off. Which meant that someone was back early. _Bother_.

_Ring_.

Whoever they were they had horrid timing. I was in middle of a delicate part of the brewing process. I turned off the flames and activated the cauldron's standby mode. A temporary fix, it would hold the potion in suspended animation for a few hours, allowing me to deal with the _visitors_, before returning to my experiments.

_Ring_.

With deliberate and unhurried movements I broke and reformed the circles surrounding my current project. Ensuring that the potion was cut off from outside influences was a very important part of inventing new potions. If you didn't know exactly what, and how something, went in than you could not replicate it.

Once outside the last circle the wards were able to inform me who was in the office. Lily's child, Alexandrea Potter, and she wasn't alone. I frowned, no one hostile should have been able to follow her here. During the last war some of my _compatriots_ had tried. They were never seen again. There was a reason Hogwarts had never been breached in the war, and it was not simply because the Dark Lord's followers feared Albus' wrath.

If she had made use of her emergency portkey she was likely in need of medical attention. I quickly left my lab and made my way down the hall to my office and grabbed my _extensive_ medical kit.

I grabbed a pinch of Floo powder, "Headmasters office." A dizzying trip that only took a second but felt much longer. I stepped out of the fireplace and into Albus' office. I only had a moment to take in the situation, Petunia and her son unconscious on the floor, before Potter spun on her heel and pointed her wand at me.

"Potter," I calmly said. Her shirt was ripped, exposing far more than I was comfortable seeing. Her breath was coming in gasps—coming down from an adrenaline rush no doubt—but her wand was steady and her eyes were hard as they took me in. A spell was halfway out of her mouth before recognition lit in her eyes and she hastily lowered her wand.

"Sorry Professor," she said.

"No matter, are you harmed?" I asked. I could see a bloody line on her throat and a bruise-shaped hand print on her arm. Someone had laid hands on Lily's child. I felt my hands clinch before I took a breath. _Focus_, Severus, focus. Ensure the child is healthy, _then_ get revenge.

"No," she shook her head, "I'm fine, but they won't wake up." She cast a worried look at her family.

"Why don't I take a look at them?" She nodded. "While I'm doing that, why don't you walk me through what happened?" I knelt next to Petunia and cast a diagnostic charm. The chemical in her system was not one I recognized, but a simple Purging Draught should work.

"We went to the movies, but someone gassed us." Potter took a deep breath before continuing. "I, the next thing I know I'm waking up and a ghoul was searching me for weapons. He took my wand and threatened my family." I tilted Petunia's head back, and poured the potion in her mouth. A quick spell and she swallowed it without any problems. I moved on to the boy. "He grabbed me and then he was _gone_. I don't know how but… But he was gone, then I got us out."

"Accidental magic most likely," I said, before finishing up with the boy. I turned back towards her. "I know it's hard but did you see anyone else? Anyone who wasn't a ghoul?" Ghouls wouldn't have bothered with kidnapping her unless they were working for someone.

"It looked like…" she hesitated before continuing, "Bellatrix Lestrange." My blood ran cold. How? How could she be alive? I examined the body myself, it was her and she was dead!

"How do you know what she looks like?" I asked. She had to be mistaken. She _had_ to be.

"I was looking through some old newspapers and I saw her picture. She has red hair now but I'm pretty sure it was her." Potter was giving me an odd look. "Sir, are you alright?"

"Yes." I composed myself and tried to ignore the throbbing of wounds long gone. "How did she sound? Her voice I mean." _Merlin_, if it's her…

"Insane. She _crucioed _one of her ghouls when I was getting away and then made his head explode." It's her. My stomach dropped and my back spasmed in remembered pain. Exploding people's heads was one of her favorite pastimes.

Before my emotions could get the best of me I bundled them up and locked them in a box. The effect was immediately noticeable, my breathing slowed and my pulse returned to a normal pace. Focus now, panic later.

I handed Potter a jar of Bruise Balm. "Put this on your arm and your bruises will be gone within the hour." I sighed, "If you'll excuse me I need to contact the headmaster." The IWC should have recessed for the night by now, and Albus needed to know. He needed to know _now_.

**888**

_Alex_

I watched Snape exit the room with a hurried step. I frowned, going by his reaction Bellatrix must have played a bigger role in the war than what I remembered. He was acting like Voldemort himself had returned. I made a mental note to do more research on the war before chiding myself for not doing so earlier.

I opened the jar of Bruise Balm and started spreading it up and down my arm. The effect was immediately noticeable, the dull ache in my arm was replaced with a cool numbness and the ugly purple color started fading. I arched my brow. Potent.

"My _head_," Aunt Petunia groaned before slowly sitting up. She looked around blearily. "Alex? What…" She raised her hand to the lump on her head only to wince when she touched it. "What's going on?" I hesitated for a moment before just telling her everything, leaving out only my cloak. (And the fake suicide attempt.) The _last_ thing I needed was for her to forbid me from using it. It was too big of an advantage to just stop using because it was a little creepy.

Okay, very creepy, but still.

"…and then I used my portkey to get us here," I said, my gaze firmly affixed on Aunt Petunia's face. This was the second time she and Dudley were put in danger because someone wanted to get at me. If there was a part of her that blamed me I could not fault her. Lord knows I _felt _responsible.

So when she jumped to her feet and pulled me into a bone crushing hug, I was a little caught off guard.

"Wha…?"

"I am so sorry," Aunt Petunia said, her voice rough with emotion.

"Sorry?"

She pulled back and looked at me. "Sorry that you had to go through that. Sorry that I didn't stop it." She smiled sadly. "Sorry I didn't listen to you when you got worried."

"It's not your fault," it's mine. "They were after me," I said.

"It's my job to protect you, Alex," Aunt Petunia said. "Not the other way around."

"But they're after _me,_" I said. "If it weren't for me you'd be safe!"

"Oh, Alex." She pulled me back into a hug. "It is not your fault. It's theirs."

"But…"

"They made their choices and we've made ours, family sticks together. Especially when things get hard." She looked me straight in the eye. "Understand?"

"Yes Aunty," I said.

"Good." She pulled the Kevlar vest off and handed it to me. "Put this on, your shirt's ripped." I glance down and blushed, no wonder Snape wouldn't look at me. I slipped it on just in time for Snape to come back in.

"Severus?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"Petunia, how are you feeling?" Snape asked.

"Fine, but Dudley still hasn't woken up." She gave Dudley a worried look.

Snape went over and cast a diagnostic spell before nodding at the results. "He will be fine. When I administered the potion I erred on the side of caution and gave him a lower dose. The gas is still working its way out of his system." That made sense. Everyone had some ability to work magic, but most people had very little magic. And since potions used some of your magic to work, the less magic you have the less potions work for you.

"But he will be fine?" Aunt Petunia demanded.

"Yes, an hour or two at most and he will wake up no worse for wear," Snape said.

"Good." Aunt Petunia nodded. "Now I think we should be getting home. Vernon will be worried by now."

Snape nodded and walked over to one of the shelves behind Dumbledore's desk. He picked up a short length of rope. "This will take us to your house." We all grouped together over Dudley. "Privet Drive," and we were off.

**888**

_?_

"…_have fun screaming_." On screen Alexandrea Lily Potter, upon whom much hope is rested, tried to cut her throat with a pair of scissors. Only to be stopped by a ghoul. The ensuing struggle ended with the ghoul being eaten by the cloak. The rest of her escape played out, though most of it had to be inferred given that she spent it invisible.

I paused the video just before the grenades exploded. "Thoughts?" I asked, taking a drag of my cigarette. Benson &amp; Hedges, perfect.

"She too ready to risk her life," said Gerard. Brash, overconfident, and worst of all ambitious. "She will be no use to us if she's dead."

"I'll remind you we had planned for her to fight her way out," George said. Smart, level headed, and best of all, loyal. "How, exactly, was she supposed to do that without risking her life?"

"I meant that she's far too willing to risk her life for those _muggles,_" Gerard spat the last word as if it tasted dirty. Arrogant fool. "We should simply kill them and be done with it."

"Kill her family? She needs to be functional for our plans to work. Kill them and she breaks. Simple as that," George said. "But then you never understood family, did you brother?"

"If she breaks, then she is no use to us anyway," Gerard sneered.

"Testing her is one thing, deliberately breaking her is a waste of resources," George said, before turning to look at the last person in the room. "What do we know of her home life? What does she do at Hogwarts?"

"According to our sources she spends most of her time with two other students. A muggleborn—one Hermione Granger—and the Scion of House Parkinson," Robert said. Dull and unassuming, he always did as he was told. Though I often got the feeling there was more to him than he ever revealed.

"A mudblood and a child of one of the Desecrator's servants. I'm unsure which is worse," Gerard said.

"And her family?" George asked, ignoring his brother.

"The boy is nothing of note, and neither is her Aunt, but the Uncle was in the military until an incident that ended with only him and another returning from deployment. They were the only survivors of a ten man group. Further investigation reveals that a group of Wardens were dispatched to deal with a Scourge of Black Court vampires that were operating in the same area." Robert paused to glance at his notes. "No concrete evidence exists to support my theory but I believe that the two teams met up and laid waste to the Scourge."

"_Fascinating,_" Gerard said, rolling his eyes. "It still doesn't mean that she's the one we are looking for."

"She has the cloak's loyalty, the Desecrater tried to kill her as a child. If she isn't what we're looking for, then I don't know what is," George said. "I say we continue as is."

"Seconded," Robert said.

"It's not as if we are spoiled for choice, Gerard," I said, eyeing him. I carefully didn't smile at his flinch. He was a fool, but he knew what I was capable of.

"I suppose she's a better choice than letting one of the others get their hands on it," he said. "Phase three?"

I nodded, "Phase three."

"And Miss Hagglethorn?" Robert asked.

"She's useless now, get evidence to the Wolves that she is behind the ghouls killing their people. Let them deal with her." I took another drag on my cigarette. "If that's all?" It was. They left in short order.

I rewound the tape.

_"…have fun screaming."_

Rewind.

_"…have fun screaming."_

Rewind.

_"…have fun screaming." _

I smiled. Yes, I think you'll do perfectly, Alex.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26:**

**Wolf's Time**

Let it be known. I hate Portkeys. I really, really do. Even the longest Portkey trip takes no more than a scant few seconds, but that time is no picnic. Travel by Portkey is like a roller coaster. That makes it sound like something you could get used to and perhaps come to enjoy, but it _really_ isn't. You're thrown this way and that and, unlike a roller coaster, no matter how hard you try you cannot brace yourself. Worst of all, from the second you activate the Portkey you are frozen in place, unable to move as you shoot through space at speeds best left to fighter jets. No matter how many times I use one I can never quite escape the feeling that I'm going to slam, head first, into the ground.

Aunt Petunia apparently had much the same reaction as I did. Except that she had already been through the wringer today so instead of simply disorienting her it caused her to lurch away as soon as we landed to be violently sick on her prizewinning azaleas.

"Are you okay, Aunty?" I asked once she finished.

"Fine, just dizzy," Aunt Petunia said as she stood. "Thank you, Severus."

"It was no problem." Snape nodded. "But I need to be going. Take care of yourself, Petunia. Miss Potter." He gripped the rope and muttered something under his breath and he was gone.

The moment Snape disappeared a pair of extremely large wolves came out from behind the garden shed. One of them I recognized right away, Joel, his casual arrogance was obvious no matter what shape he was in.

The other wolf caught my eye for a moment before she fell to the ground, her neck stretched out and her belly exposed in a show of submission that even the most obtuse of individuals could recognize.

Elsa.

My Bitch.

I didn't even realize I was walking towards her until Joel placed himself between us. His head was lowered slightly, lips pulled back to expose his teeth, and his eyes locked on me. His body language said it all. _Ready to attack, but doesn't want to, will if necessary to protect pack mate._

I felt my lips pull back in a smile that showed far too many teeth. If he thought he could keep me from one of mine he was sorely mistaken. I may not be Wolf now but I had my magic stick and sliver claws. I could win.

I _would_ win.

"Enough." _Alpha, dominant, command_. I turned to look at the speaker already knowing who I would find. Rachel Jensen, pack alpha, not a fight I could win. Not yet. I narrowed my eyes at her. "_Enough_." She did not raise her voice but she put enough _command_ into it that I rocked back.

I caught her eye just long enough to let her know that I was only stopping because I wanted to. Not because she was commanding it. Then I deliberately slid my gaze to the left. Not down, down signified submission and I was not submissive to her. Left just meant that I did not want to challenge for _dominance_ just yet.

I came back to myself suddenly. I immediately figured out what had happened.

Wolf, what the hell?! I didn't actually expect a response but I got one. It wasn't in words but a close translation would be _grumbling discontent_. I sighed, I had a dragon that was bipolar and a primadonna wolf.

Why am I the only sane person in my head?

"Alex? What's wrong?" Aunt Petunia asked. I was about to respond with something reassuring when Rachel interrupted.

"I think Alex's encounter with the Hexenwolf talisman left something behind." Rachel nodded to me. "Isn't that right, Alex?"

"Something like that," I replied reluctantly. Honestly, did we have to do this in front of Aunt Petunia?

"Are you in control?" Rachel asked. At my nod she continued. "Then perhaps we can speak inside?"

**888**

The living room was silent, save for the quiet droning sound of the air conditioner. Rachel Jensen, Alpha of the White Cliffs Pack, usually kept her _presence_ under control. Rarely was there a need to let everyone in the room know who was in charge in such an overwhelming manner. Certainly in her many visits to my home I had never felt it.

Today she clearly felt the need.

I suppose I could hardly blame her. She was a Dominant wolf, the most dominant wolf in her pack—else she would not be Alpha—and Dominant wolves protected. It was hardwired into their very DNA; protect the Pack. An Alpha would give their lives to protect their pack, but today, instead of protecting her pack, two of them died. And given the mystical tethers—the pack bonds—that bound a pack together, she was no doubt feeling their deaths in a visceral way. One that cannot be easily imagined.

To tell the truth I was probably lucky she didn't put me down when I threatened Joel.

"I am glad to see that all of you are in good health," Rachel said, her gaze going from Aunt Petunia to me. Uncle Vernon had taken Dudley to his room and was still up there with him in case he woke up disoriented. "But two of my wolves died today. I would like it if you could walk me through what happened." Behind her Ellie Jensen, Rachel's oldest child, nodded in unconscious agreement.

I glanced up at Aunt Petunia, whose lap I was sitting on, and she nodded encouragingly. "We were at the movies and someone started pumping gas into the theater. I was only up long enough to notice the ghouls kill the wolf in the front row."

"Gas? Nothing magical?" Rachel asked, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"I didn't feel anything magical," I said.

"That doesn't make any sense. We heal too fast for normal drugs to affect us," Rachel said. I didn't even realize I was shaking my head until she looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I cursed internally. I had not meant to do that. Revealing that I knew about an anti-werewolf drug was not something I wanted anyone to know. "Unless you know something I don't, Alex?"

How do I say this? "The gas didn't put them down. It just needed to slow them down enough for the ghouls to be able to, ah, take care of them." I fought the urge to face-palm. That sounded far too adult-ish for a normal eleven-year-old. Let alone one who was just kidnapped.

Rachel frowned, "How many ghouls?"

"There was only one with us when I woke up, and when we were flying away there was a group of them heading for the warehouse. Maybe ten?" I shook my head. "Sorry."

Ellie started to say something but Rachel glanced at her and she stayed quiet. "Was there anyone else there besides the ghouls?" Rachel asked.

I nodded. "Bellatrix Lestrange, or at least someone who looks like her."

Rachel's frown deepened, "Are you sure? I was under the impression she was dead."

"It may have been someone else but I don't think it was. When I described her to Professor Snape he seemed to think it was Bellatrix," I said. More to the point, he sounded like he really didn't want it to be her. As if he was accepting the possibility only hesitantly.

"Alright, for now we operate under the assumption that Bellatrix is behind this." Rachel paused to glance at her daughter. "Call your father, let him know."

"Yes Mother," Ellie said before heading outside to, presumably, call Mr. Jensen.

"Alex, I need you to be honest with me. Have you been feeling irritable? Maybe you feel like there are threats around every corner? As if you have to avenge any insult, no matter how small?" Rachel asked, her voice serious as her gaze bored into me. It had nothing on Ferrovax's merest glance, but it was potent no the less.

"Rachel, what's this about?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"I promise you Petunia, I will answer your questions, but first I need Alex to answer mine," Rachel said, not taking her eyes off me.

"Yes, but only for a few weeks after I got back to Hogwarts. After that, things got better," I said.

"These kinds of things don't just get better, Alex," Rachel said calmly. I hesitated. It wasn't that I didn't trust Rachel, but that didn't mean I wanted to tell her about learning Occlumency.

"Professor Dumbledore knows mind healers," I said. I'm a horrible liar so when I need to keep the truth from someone its best if I use the truth to do so.

Rachel nodded. "He does, but you didn't use one." Sadly even lying with the truth doesn't work on Werewolves. Something that I managed to forget. "I need you to be honest with me, Alex. This is important." Dammit.

"I-I have been studying Occlumency," I said.

"Occlumency?" Rachel asked.

"It's a way to defend your mind," I said. "I had already started studying it in October. So when I realized that the Hexenwolf necklace had left something behind I was able to find my mindscape and fight her. After that I didn't have any problems."

"Until now," Rachel said.

I nodded in reluctant agreement. "Until now."

"Her? In your head? Alex, what are you talking about?" Aunt Petunia asked concerned. I winced, this was why I didn't want to talk about this in front of her. I loved Aunt Petunia, but that didn't change the fact that when it came to magical problems she couldn't really help.

"Remember how I explained our condition, Petunia?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with Alex?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"When Alex was exposed to the Hexenwolf talisman it left something behind. So now, like us, Alex has a wolf in her head," Rachel said.

"Oh," Aunt Petunia said. There was a moment of quiet as she absorbed that before her head whipped around to stare at me. A frown on her face. "You have a wolf in your head?" I nodded. "You've had it since Christmas?" Hesitant nod. "And you didn't tell me?!"

Oh boy.

**888**

It took a lot of convincing on her part but Rachel was able to talk both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon into letting me go with her. They had been reluctant, especially after what had just happened, but when Rachel explained what would happen if Wolf took over they agreed to let me go with her.

_"It is rare for a former Hexenwolf to fully manifest a wolf spirit, but it has been known to happen. For Alex to manifest one after being exposed to one after only a few minutes either means that she is especially vulnerable or that the spirit the wizard used to make the talisman was very strong. Either way, chances are good that she will lose control, and if she does the wolf takes over. If it's a smart one, and this one seems smart, it will start slow. Pets will go missing, one or two at first, and before long that won't be enough. She will move on to more challenging targets."_

I felt she may have been overstating the danger in my case. After all I hadn't had any problems with Wolf since I proved my dominance. And Wolf had helped me in my fight with Dragon, but…

_"If it's a smart one, and this one seems smart, it will start slow."_

How smart? Smart enough to realize she couldn't beat Dragon on her own? Smart enough to earn my trust? Smart enough to wait until I was hurt too badly to stop her from taking over?

I shivered.

It seemed best to at least try it Rachel's way.

Which is how I found myself in her office waiting for her to finish with whatever she was doing. It was a nice office, dark wood paneling and comfortable furniture, none of which looked expensive. Which meant that they probably cost twice as much.

I glanced at the grandfather clock, a very expensive antique, and frowned. I had been waiting for over thirty minutes. It seemed unlikely that whatever Rachel had to do would take this long. Unless she was having a pack meeting. Entirely possible as they had lost two members today, but that didn't feel right.

The second hand ticked by as I thought it over.

If she was deliberately making me wait, the question was why. What did making me wait achieve? It could be a dominance play, show me that as long as I made time for her she would fit me in if, and when, she chose. I gave her desk a considering look, if she was playing dominance games then so could I.

The desk was hers in a way the rest of the room wasn't. It was where Rachel spent most of her time. The desk was in great shape but obviously well used, and everything was arranged just so. Everything was arranged with a surgical precision. I didn't even have to make a mess, if I just moved things enough to put my feet up as I laid back in her chair it would send a message. Even when she came in and forced me to move—and she would have to make me move, it was a challenge just blatant enough for her to have to respond—it would be a victory in and of itself.

I started for the desk before stopping abruptly.

Dominance games? Challenging an Alpha in their home? _Just_ to prove a point? That wasn't me. I knew how to lose. I knew when to lose. Even if it just meant going along with whatever the 'victor' wanted until I did what I wanted anyway.

Challenging authority was stupid, I learned that in my first childhood. Give in and, if you were smart, you could still probably get what you wanted. Maybe not right then, but later. Fight authority and it would smack you down and you wouldn't get what you wanted.

I knew that. Or I used to. So why was I…?

_Wolf_?

The urge to challenge Rachel left and I nearly tripped over my suddenly shaky legs. I took a moment to catch my balance before I made my way to the fireplace. I dropped to the floor and closed my eyes.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

**888**

I opened my eyes to the house of my first childhood. It utterly failed to calm my nerves. I sighed and made my way outside to find Wolf waiting for me just outside the gate separating her forest from my piece of suburbia. I just stared at her for a long moment, taking in her posture. _Defiant. Challenging._

Did she look more real, more solid, than before or was I just imagining it?

"I thought we had an agreement?" I said. Wolf just kept staring at me. _Challenge_. "Do you want another fight? The last one didn't end to well for you." Wolf crouched and bared her teeth. _Fight_. "Fine."

I focused and the earth at my feet shot out like a spear at Wolf. I expected her to doge the first one, and was already preparing the next spear when the first one stopped scant inches from her face.

I froze before narrowing my eyes at her and focusing on the spear, trying to force it at her, but it wouldn't move.

I looked at Wolf and she caught my eyes before her form started blurring. Her body shifted, going from four legs to two, her paws stretched out into toes and fingers, her muzzle pulled in and formed a mouth. What was most disconcerting, though, was that her eyes never left mine. Daring me to look away.

After a few short moments Wolf stood facing me, looking like me at eighteen. A me who had had all the trappings of civilization stripped away. Her hair looked wild, not dirty, just untamed. Her muscles looked like steel cords without being bulky, as if she spent every day fighting.

She took a small step towards me and, before I could stop myself, I took a much larger one back.

Wolf grinned, showing off teeth that looked very sharp indeed. She reached up and gripped the collar that still rested on her throat, yanked it off, and threw it at me.

"Soon you wear _my_ mark."


	27. Chapter 27

**AN:** First-It's been over two weeks since my last update, for which I am sorry. I did mean to get a chapter out last week but with school starting back up and then getting bronchitis, I had little time and even less energy to write.

Second- From now on I will update every other Saturday.

Third-If anyone, for any reason, feels like recommending New Day, New Life at Tvtropes, I would not object. DX

Fourth-I'd like to thank CAT for Betta-ing the chapter!

**Chapter 27:**

**Wolf Greets The World**

_"Soon you wear my mark."_

I'm not ashamed to admit the terror those words instilled in me. Ever since I arrived in this universe my biggest, or at least my most _visceral_, fear has been someone tampering with my mind. That one day I would go to bed and the person who woke up wouldn't be me. It would look like me, sound like me, think it was me, but it wouldn't be me. I found it terribly ironic that learning Occlumency, as a way to prevent that from happening, is the reason Wolf was able to form at all.

Perhaps the most horrifying part about this whole thing was how naturally my thoughts flowed when Wolf was influencing me. If I hadn't been on a lookout for Wolf's influence, I would have never noticed it. Rachel had been challenging me, daring me to respond, so of course I had to hit back. My reasoning had felt like _my_ reasoning.

Had Wolf not jumped to the fore, had Rachel not been there to see it, how long would it have been until Wolf was wearing me like a meat suit? Would I have even noticed her pulling the strings? Or would I have remained unknowing until Wolf's thoughts and my actions were one and the same?

I took a breath. Now was not the time to panic. I took another breath and firmed my resolve. Now was the time to fight.

"Ready?" Wolf asked, her grin turning eager.

My answer came in the form of an earthen fist that rose from the ground behind her. It stopped before it could even touch her. I paid it no mind, I had been expecting that and I was already focusing on the next construct. Wolf blocked that one as well and started walking towards me. I started backing up.

Ok, so one at a time isn't working. How about two at a time? I focused and spikes shot out of the ground at Wolf. Two at first, then three, then seven. Each one was well-aimed. Each one was sharpened to a pinpoint. Each launched with enough force to punch straight through steel, if this had been the real world.

Each one stopped just short of actually touching Wolf.

"Done?" Wolf asked, smirking.

I glared at her before launching myself at her. If temporary constructs wouldn't work, then I would beat her with my fists. _This was my mind. I would not be beaten here._

Wolf caught me midair, twisted around and slammed me on the ground. Before I could get my bearing she was on top of me, holding me down. I tried to fight back, tried to escape, but despite the absurdity of the situation, Wolf held me down with ease.

"Done?" Wolf asked again.

"How?" I wanted to sound defiant, but it came out more like a whimper. "This is my mind. How did I lose?"

Wolf shook her head, "Mine too."

"Wha…" I started to ask, but before I could finish, Wolf leaned forward and I lost control.

**888**

_Wolf_

I opened my eyes, of my own accord, to the outside world for the first time in months. Months of being trapped in my forest; months without feeling the wind in my fur, months without challenge or prey, months without _pack_.

My grin was jubilant.

_Freedom_.

I breathed deeply, taking in hundreds of smells. I parceled through them, quickly identifying the useful scents and discarding the rest. The Alphas, Rachel and Adam, the rest of their pack, and most importantly my bitch. My Elsa. I would find her, it was going to be so very easy. I was strong. I was fast. My teeth were sharp and my bark was very nearly as bad as my bite. There existed no single wolf that could challenge me and win. I made to stand, my flesh already rippling as fur started sprouting, when He spoke.

"Hello Alex." I shot to my feet, whirling around as I stood, to see a young man. Brown eyes, black hair, no scent. Unremarkable. Human. No threat. Not prey. I started to dismiss him from my thoughts when he spoke up again. "How are you?"

I stared at him. Not a threat, but also not prey?

He studied me for a moment before speaking. "Not much of a talker when your Wolf is in control, I take it? Few of us are in those circumstances." He sighed. "But if you want to make it out of this alive I must insist you talk to me."

He dared to threaten me? This thin, childish, excuse for a human? I stepped towards him, my snarl reverberating around the room. I would show this fool who the Alpha was. He shied again and caught my eye for a moment.

_Strength, power, dominance, rage. __**RAGE!**_

I dropped to the floor, neck bared, belly exposed, doing my best to express one very simple idea._ You win, please don't kill me._

"Are you ready to talk?" He asked.

"…yes," I said, very carefully not looking anywhere near him. The thought of him looking at me like that again sent shivers up and down my spine. That was, I don't even _know_ what that was.

"Why don't you come sit up here?" He asked, patting the couch. I stood up, keeping as much distance between us as possible, and sat at the far end of the couch. "Would like to play chess?"

"Chess?" I asked, confused. What did chess have to do with anything?

He nodded. "Chess."

"Sure?" I said. No reason not to and every reason to play along.

He reached down and grabbed an intricately carved box with a chess board on top and the chess pieces inside. He set the pieces up, I was black, and moved his left most pawn forward two spaces. I met him head on by putting my corresponding pawn forward. It may have just been a game but this side of the board was _mine_. He had no business being on it.

The game continued in the same manner. He made a move and I responded to block it. In less than six moves I lost.

"Check mate," he said. I glared at the board. I knew how to play chess, the way the pieces moved, I shouldn't have lost. "Again?" At my nod he reset the pieces.

This time I was white, so I got to go first. I went on the offensive, trying to take out his king before he could get any piece to mine. I lost. Again. We played again and again and again, until a few moves into our seventh game he started talking again.

"It is widely believed that those who are good at chess are automatically great strategists. That isn't true, but it does illustrate that good chess players can look multiple moves ahead. They can think of multiple angles of attack and defense." He made his move and I made mine. "Another thing they all have in common is that none of them are just wolves."

"I can think!" I said. I was not a simple animal. I was Wolf, yes, but I am more than just a wolf. I have changed, grown. I am more now than I had ever been before.

"Yes, yes you can. But look at our games," he gestured to the chess board. "Every move you've made has been straight forward. Attack, attack, attack. Every trap I laid worked properly. Every feint, you took at face value. I'm not a good chess player." He leaned forward and deliberately caught my eye. "Alex would have won by now."

"Alex is weak! If it weren't for me, Alex would still be trapped by the ghouls! Aunty would be dead! Pup would be dead!" I said screaming. "I will not allow my pack to die because Alex is too weak to protect them!" Did he not understand? Alex has too many enemies that will attack the pack to get at her. I needed to lead, or they would die.

"Alex escaped with Petunia and Dudley, how is that weak?" He asked.

"She would have still been sleeping if I hadn't purged the poison air from us!" I said. "She only killed one of them, and that was by accident! She let the rest of them live! They threatened her! Threatened the pack! And she let them live! If I had control then I would have killed every one of them! Taken them down one by one and left their bodies as warning for others stupid enough to try and hunt me!"

"Little Wolf," He said calmly. "If you had tried to do that you would be dead."

"I-"

"Quiet," he snapped, my mouth closed seemingly of its own accord. "It is true that without your help Alex would still be drugged and your pack would be dead. But it is also true that if you had stayed to try and kill the ghouls, you would be dead. You may have gotten some of them, because you are strong, but they would have killed you just the same. Most importantly your family, your pack, would be dead. Not because you couldn't have saved them but because you had to kill your enemies. Your pack would be dead because _you_ _did not_ _think_."

That wasn't true. That couldn't be true, I am strong and fast. At least an even match for any ghoul, and I had my cloak. I could have killed every ghoul and then gotten my pack out. But, a part of me whispered, only one ghoul had to get past me to Pup or Aunty to kill them.

Was my pack safer with Alex than me?

"Alex prioritized, protect the pack. That comes first, that always comes first. Right?" He asked. I nodded, of course the pack came first. "But you raise a good point, without you everyone would have died."

"So I should be in charge?" I asked my mind spinning in confusion.

"It was your strength and Alex's mind that saved your pack. Ask anyone of my wolves and you will find that it is the unity of wolf and man that allows them to accomplish more than they could manage on their own." He leaned forward again, his voice cajoling, his eyes intense. "Imagine how safe your pack would be if you and Alex worked as one."

My strength and Alex's mind, working together, protecting the pack. It was tempting, Alex wasn't a genius—lazy or otherwise—but she was clever. She was also able to plan for more that I would even think to account for. But would she even go for it? After our first fight she shackled me, and didn't bother with me until Dragon came into being. If she did agree to try it, she might just lock me away again. Only bringing me out for fights. Was I willing to risk that? I snorted, the answer to that was easy. If it meant keeping my pack safe, then yes.

A thousand times yes.

I closed my eyes and went to my forest.

**888**

I found Alex in her house, curled up in Papa's big chair. My memories of Alex's last life were hazy. They lacked most of the details that her memories of this life had. Their lack of detail only made it harder to deal with the loss of our last pack.

I got in the chair and pulled Alex onto my lap.

"I miss them too," I said, smiling a little when she leaned back into me.

"…You really are me, aren't you?" Alex asked softly.

I nodded, "Yes." We sat there a while, just breathing and holding one another. It was nice.

"You know, I am sorry for locking you in here. It didn't even occur to me that you would even want out. I thought you were just a part of me, a small part at that. That you were a fully developed alternate me, was never in consideration," Alex said.

"I wasn't, not then. I was just instincts given form," I said.

"The blueprints of a Hexenwolf, but made out of me, out of my soul. Beating you when you were just the instincts was fairly easy." I growled at that, but Alex didn't notice or didn't care. "So you grew, changed, became more than a simple wolf. A regular Hexenwolf isn't changeable, it's just a spirit and spirits don't change, but a spirit made of a human soul? That is, by definition, change given form." She laughed, twisting around to give me a teasing look. "I've got my very own Lash!"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Too bad you're not super smart," Alex sighed and slumped back into me. "Aw well, can't have everything."

I growled at that and Alex just giggled. She thought she was funny did she? Let's see how she likes this. I pushed my memory of my encounter with Him to her. Alex's laughter abruptly cut off. There was a few moments of blessed silence as she absorbed it.

"…We are very lucky not to be dead right now," Alex said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Yes the man was very dangerous and fighting him head on was stupid, but if he had tried anything I would have gotten away.

"You didn't recognize him? I mean, I know it's been a few months since we, I, read about him but finding out that Mercy Thompson was real was a pretty big memory. Mind you, it is odd that he's here. I was under the impression he rarely, if ever, leaves the U.S," Alex said.

"So? Who is he?" I interrupted her, before she could keep going.

"The Marrok."


	28. Chapter 28

**AN:** Parts you liked? Parts you hated? Most Quotable line? An answer to anyone of these helps improve the story! ;)

**Chapter 28:**

**Reaching An Understanding**

_Alex_

"The Marrok," I said. What the Red King is to the Red Court, what Lara Raith is to the White Court, The Marrok is to the werewolves. Most of his packs are made up of Tier Welshers, but other types of werewolves have joined him as well. No one knew how many wolves answered to him but it was estimated that he could call on a force of, _at least_, four thousand Tier Welshers. Needless to say, he's a major power in the supernatural world.

I told Wolf all this but she still had a confused look on her face.

"Okay, so he's _the_ big bad wolf, doesn't mean we couldn't just run," Wolf said, her face indignant. Why was she upset? It was hardly an insult to be considered weaker than Bran Cornick. You'd have to be a god, or Dresden, to stop him if he decided to kill you.

I studied her for a moment. The changes Wolf went through when entering my house were much more pronounced in human form. If you saw her on the street you might be uneasy, but I doubt you would be able to point out why. Her hair was in a bun, her face was sharp, and she wore an outfit that wouldn't look out of place on a fashion-conscious Liberian. But there was _something_ about her that still screamed predator; maybe it was the way her eyes never quite settled on anything, always checking the room for threats, maybe it was her body language, the way she held herself deliberately relaxed, or maybe it was just her innate nature that reminded humans of our days huddled by the roaring fire, praying that we would live to see the dawn.

Wolf being in my part of our mindscape might have civilized her, but it hadn't changed her true nature. For all that Wolf was me, she was a _me_ that held Pack and the Hunt as most important. Right and Wrong never entered into the equation. Right to Wolf meant a good kill and a safe pack, wrong was anything that got in the way of that. I could work with that, after all I wasn't much different in that regard.

Pack, _family_, first.

Everything else had always been a distant second.

I sighed, that was all important but it didn't answer my questions, one of which was, how exactly did I know any of this? I hadn't really had time to get to know Wolf yet. But somehow I _knew_ my assessment was spot on.

Why was she upset?

Or perhaps it did answer my question. A large part of Wolf's identity was predicated on being strong enough to kill any threat to her, our, pack. But what happens the first time she's in the real world? She meets one of the few people neither of us could kill—well, that we could kill without resorting to massive amounts of cheating.—Not only that, he proceeds to put her on her ass with just _a look_ and then explain exactly why she isn't good enough to protect her pack.

I smiled at her before pulling her into a hug. After a moment she pulled back and gave me an odd look.

"What was that about?" Wolf asked.

"You looked like you needed a hug." I shrugged. "Now, where was I?"

"Why we're lucky to be alive," Wolf said, sounding slightly less upset than before. I decided to count that as a win.

"Right, okay, so to really understand why he's such a threat aside from his position, you have to know what a Tier Welsher is capable of. In half-form a Tier Welsher can easily punch through a concrete pillar, run better than sixty miles an hour, and heal from anything short of death. Their one, or more accurately _biggest_ weakness is endurance. Maintaining half-form in and of itself isn't hard, but doing so during a protracted fight requires reserves most just don't have."

"And the Marrok is different?" Wolf asked.

"The Marrok is different." I nodded in agreement. "About a hundred and sixty years ago there was this nutter who thought he was the reincarnation of King Author. Crazy? Yes, certainly. But what made him dangerous was his ability to fight in half-form for nearly half an hour. So he starts bringing the local packs under his command. No big deal, Bran was mostly focused on North America at the time. What did he care if some loon was setting himself up as Were-King of England? He didn't of course, but the Idiot cared. The Idiot cared a lot."

I sighed and leaned back into Wolf, pulling her arms around me before I continued. "The would-be king viewed Bran as a threat to his right to rule. So, under the pretense of friendship, he invited Bran to England for a hunt. For whatever reason, Bran accepted." I ran my hand through my hair. "Now, it's not clear how he did it but, nonetheless, the Idiot managed to get The Marrok in wolf form and then trap him in a nearby forest. Presumably he had something _big_ backing him or else a lot of help to power something strong enough to trap Bran."

While I had been talking, Wolf's face had drawn together in thought. Either she was trying to find the memory of the book where I got my information or she was trying to figure out how he planned to kill Bran. I was leaning towards the latter and my suspicions were proven correct when she spoke. "Trapping Bran wouldn't be his goal. He thought that he was supposed to be Alpha, so leaving Bran alive wouldn't be acceptable. You can't leave a threat that big alive, or your rule will always be in question. So he had to kill Bran, but he was too weak to kill him by himself, right?"

I nodded with a smile. She was thinking. Good. Dumb muscle had its uses but an intelligent partner was much better. I had already lost two families, I had no intention of losing anyone else. Wolf's existence greatly increased my ability to protect my family.

Finding a balance that would work for the both of us would, undoubtedly, be difficult, and that was without taking Dragon into account. But it would be worth it, I'm sure. Not, I think, that I really had a choice in the matter. I'm not even sure I could kill Wolf at this point. Not only did I lack the skill to do so, as Wolf had so aptly demonstrated, but she was as tied to our mindscape as I was. Killing her would damage me. It might even kill me. No, a balance, no matter how difficult it is to come by, was much better all around.

"Alex?" Wolf asked, sounding bemused.

"Hmm?" I said.

"How did the Idiot try to kill Bran?" Wolf asked.

"Oh right," I can't believe I spaced out again, I really need to work on that. "Apparently he managed to stick a family of Loup-garous in the trap with Bran…"

"Loup-garou?" Wolf asked.

"You don't know what a Loup-garou is?" I asked, a little confused. How much access did she have to my memories? Because it seemed like she could look at them but there also seemed to be a lot of holes in her knowledge base.

"No," Wolf said.

"A Loup-garou is a werewolf that only changes on the full moon. The rest of the time they're completely normal. No enhanced senses, no super strength, but when they turn they're just this side of unstoppable. They can go toe to toe with a Tier Welsher in half-form and win. The only known way to kill a transformed Loup-garou is with inherited sliver. Anything else is just a temporary inconvenience."

"How many of them were there?" Wolf asked.

"The book said twelve, though I'm almost certain that's an exaggeration. But whatever the real number is, Bran is the only one who walked out of that forest alive." Even if it had only been two Loup-garous, that feat alone was enough to put The Marrok firmly on my Do-Not-Fuck-With list.

"So he lasted the whole night in half-form?" Wolf asked. Looking appropriately awed.

I nodded. "That's what the book said."

"So what happened to the Idiot?" Wolf asked.

"Dead. Apparently Bran tracked him down and, uh, expressed his displeasure in an incredibly violent manner," I said, before sighing. "I think it's time we come to an accord."

Wolf's face turned serious, but before she could respond the backdoor slammed opened and in walked Dragon. At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking she was human, but upon closer inspection you'd notice some…_irregularities_. Her skin was not skin, but intricately interlaced scales. Her magma colored eyes had a slit pupils, and her teeth…good lord, her _teeth_. As she opened her mouth to speak, I got a glimpse of a near endless maw of razor sharp teeth. Her mouth didn't look big enough to contain that many teeth.

I squinted my eyes and leaned forward to get a better look. No, I decided, it wasn't a trick of the light. She actually had more teeth in there than was physically possible.

"What'd you do? Rob the Osmond family?" I asked, incredulously. Wolf started laughing and Dragon rested her face in her hand as if she were in physical pain. "What?"

"You didn't even hear me, did you?" Dragon asked, sounding annoyed for some reason. I just look at her blankly. "No! Of course not! Do you have any idea how long I've been working on that?"

"On what?" I asked, more than a little confused. Wolf was still laughing.

"My entrance!" Dragon said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Wait for you two to start talking about a deal. Slam the door open, then as you're reeling from the noise, sashay inside before striking a pose. Then, as you look at me in wonder and fear, I say 'you haven't forgotten about little old me have you?'" Dragon crossed her arms and started pouting. "Would have been awesome too, but _nooo_, more teeth than the Osmond family, my ass…" From there her muttering became too incoherent to follow.

I stared at her, completely at a loss on how to take this latest development. Dragon was acting like, like some sort of overly emotional teenager. I glanced at Wolf—who was still _laughing_—she did actually look older than both Dragon and I. By a fair margin at that. Where I looked eleven and Wolf looked somewhere between twenty-five and thirty, Dragon, for all her blatant inhumanity, did actually look about sixteen.

I swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat.

Oh God.

_A teenager._

I turned my gaze skyward and glared. What, by all the gods, had I done to deserve this? I had never been a saint. But this? This?! Oh, if I ever find the Power that brought me to this universe, I will have vengeance. And it will be glorious!

"Alex?" Wolf asked, finally getting over her bout of insanity.

"Hmm?" I said, giving her a curious look.

"Why, exactly, are you cackling?" Dragon asked, looking slightly unnerved.

"Swearing eternal vengeance. Why, did I space out again? I really need to work on that," I said. Dragon and Wolf exchanged glances before Dragon sighed and flopped down onto the chair with us.

"We were, I believe, about to come to an agreement," Dragon said instead of answering my question.

"Right, so we obviously can't continue as we have been. But I'm hesitant to just," I stopped unsure how to phrase my feelings on the matter.

"You don't want to just give up control of _your_ body," Wolf said. Oddly she didn't sound bitter. I would have expected more resentment from being trapped in our mindscape for so long.

"Well, yes. I've no problem sharing most things but I never thought I'd have to share my body. Well, at least not until I started dating. And even then not _literally,_" I said, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"We won't have enough magic for me to take over until we're a hundred, at least. If I tried now we'd die," Dragon said.

"Let's avoid that," I said, losing a little color. At the same time though, I was relieved. I had the better part of a century before I had to worry about her just usurping control. I turned to Wolf. "You, on the other hand, can take over, and you probably want some Real World time."

Wolf nodded. "I want to hunt!"

"No people," I said. Wolf frowned. "A good hunter picks their prey carefully. If you go after people it draws attention. Eventually it will draw the attention of someone we can't kill. Someone strong enough to _kill us_, and if we die, who's going to protect Dudley?"

Wolf didn't look happy but eventually she nodded. "No people."

"If you really want to kill someone that badly, you just have to wait. We have a lot of enemies, your chance will come," Dragon said, her voice consoling, as she gave Wolf a half-hug.

I nodded. "And until then I'm sure we can find interesting prey in the Forbidden Forest. Or not, between the Dun'kle cats and the giant spiders. We should probably stick to the not-forbidden forests," I said after thinking that through. "Anyway, how does every Friday night sound? I mean, it will probably have to wait until we get back to Hogwarts. There aren't exactly good hunting grounds near Privet Drive."

Wolf nodded in agreement. "That sounds good."

I turned to look at Dragon. "I know you can't really go outside, but I don't want you to be trapped in here…"

"Anymore?" Dragon quipped.

I rolled my eyes. "Anymore."

"As long as you don't block me I can piggy back your senses. It's not the same as experiencing the real world myself but, it will do," Dragon said.

I nodded. I could live with that, and if the time came where she did just take over? Hopefully shed remember that I had treated her well and return the favor.

"Someone should go outside soon. We've been here awhile and keeping Bran waiting isn't a good idea," Wolf said.

"If there's nothing else we need to go over right now?" I asked. Dragon and Wolf shook their heads. "Then I'll be going."

Time to face _The_ Big Bad Wolf.

I closed my eyes.

Breath. Focus. _Sense._


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: **

**Introspection**

_Alex_

I had expected to find Bran waiting with an assessing gaze and an irreverent smile; confident that his plan had worked, but still wary enough to have a cautious look. I had expected there to be a sharp undercurrent of power; expertly controlled, yet ready to be released at the slightest provocation.

"I pushed jump! That means you jump! It doesn't mean 'fall down the bottomless hole!'" Bran muttered, sounding very annoyed. His eyes focused on the screen.

I admit I had not expected him to be playing a Game Boy.

_"This is the Marrok? The great leader of Werewolves? One of the great powers?" _Dragon sniffed disdainfully. _"We are not impressed."_

For a moment I was at a loss at how I could hear her, but then I remembered that she could now tap into my senses. Commenting on what she saw was probably not that difficult.

And the Royal we? _Really_?

_"Precisely,"_ Dragon said, her attention still on Bran. Completely ignoring my question. _"He's a leader, where's his dignity?"_

Dignity? Really, miss sashay, do you have _any_ room to talk?

_"Letting my guard down and relaxing around you and Wolf is a far cry from…this! I am you and you are me and we are Wolf and she is us. Three sides of the same whole. Being ourselves around each other is right," _Dragon said. _"But to him we are either a potential enemy, a potential pack member, or an ally. For any of those he should be greeting us as The Marrok. Ruler of the Wolves and supernatural power house. Not this irreverent façade!"_

Remember, to him we are a mostly normal eleven year old girl. One who has just gone through an exceedingly traumatic experience. You don't greet traumatized eleven year olds as The Marrok. Not unless you feel like traumatizing them even more. No, this is a great way for him to put my fears at ease and show himself as relatable.

It's actually quite calculating if you think about it.

_"…I suppose," _Dragon said before pulling back a little. I could still feel her there but more as an observer than as a participant.

I shook my head. This was going to take some getting used to.

"How are you feeling, Alex?" Bran asked, finally looking up from his Game Boy.

"Good," I said. "Mr...?" I wasn't supposed to know his name yet, after all.

"That's right I haven't told you my name yet, have I?" Bran smiled. "Please call me Bran."

I nodded. "Alright Mr. Bran." I had no idea why The Marrok was taking the time to help me. Even with my status as the Girl-Who-Lived, I was nowhere _near_ important enough to rate a personal visit.

Unless of course he was already here checking on his new pack? If so that would make sense. As far as I knew the Jensens' pack are the first pack in all of Great Britain to answer to The Marrok. And given the Wizengamot's notorious bigotry towards Tierwechslers…

I nodded to myself. Yes, that made sense.

"Alex, are you sure you're feeling ok?" Bran asked, looking concerned. "Is your wolf trying to take over?"

"No!" I said quickly. The chances of him deciding to hurt me, let alone kill me, were nearly zero. If I lost control and Wolf came out and started killing people he _would_ be forced to act. "No, I was just thinking."

"Good, that's good." Bran sighed and powered off the Game Boy, before sliding it into his shirt pocket. "I know that it's been a difficult day, but there are some things we need to go over before you can go to bed, alright?"

I nodded, stifling a yawn. I hadn't even felt tired until he said that.

"Ok," Bran said, a sober mien coming over him. "Usually we would have this discussion with your aunt and uncle present, and make no mistake, they will be included later. But for now, I am reliably informed that you are very mature for your age. So I need you to take this seriously."

"Yes sir," I said. The air itself seemed to gain weight as he focused on me.

"When you used the Hexenwolf talisman to save your family, it left a mark. One that is not going away. Your wolf will be with you for the rest of your life. It is extremely important that you _never_ lose control like you did earlier. Is that understood?" The Marrok's eyes drilled into me until I responded with a small nod.

Bran sighed and leaned back slightly. "I'm not saying this to scare you, but it is _very _important that your wolf doesn't take control from you. Especially when people are around."

"Yes sir, I understand," I said, softly. For all that I was sure that he wouldn't hurt me, it was all I could do to talk.

"Do you understand why?" Bran asked, still intense but not as much as before.

"Wolf doesn't understand that you shouldn't hurt people. She just wants to hunt and protect our pack," I said, for the first time in a long time feeling as young as I looked. "She doesn't care who gets hurt as long as the pack's safe." If Wolf had taken control anywhere else, if Bran hadn't stopped her, the body count would have been…_enormous_.

"Exactly. Which is why we're going to help you learn control," Rachel said. I twisted around to see her standing by the door. She smiled at me before walking over and pulling me into a hug. I blinked, we weren't that close but I must have looked like I needed a hug. She pulled back and looked me in the eye. "You aren't alone. We understand what you're going through and we _will_ help you. But for now, let's go to sleep."

**888**

I pulled the blanket over me as I turned over trying, and failing, to fall asleep. Despite how comfortable the bed was, my brain just wouldn't turn off. I had been laying in one of the Jensens' guest rooms for over an hour and I was no closer to sleep than when I first laid down.

I had wanted to just get to sleep. I was exhausted, but my mind kept going in circles. If I wanted any sleep tonight I'd need to meditate. I sighed before sitting up, crossing my legs, and closing my eyes.

Breath. Focus. _Sense._

My family had nearly died.

_Again_.

Unacceptable. Two attempts on my life had nearly killed my family. I clenched my fists so tightly that I nearly drew blood. If—no, _when_ I finally got my hands on Bellatrix I would have to come up with something inventive to stop future attempts on my life from including my family.

Exactly how hard would it be to get my hands on a Dementor? The _technically_ still living body of Bellatrix Lestrange would go a long way to deter my enemies. And even if it didn't, if I repeated it enough times I'm sure even Voldemort would hesitate.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I deliberately relaxed my fists and sighed. As pleasant as that thought is, it was impractical for a number of reasons. Not the least of which was getting a Dementor away from Azkaban and keeping it safely contained being beyond me at the moment. That, and feeding the souls of my enemies to Dementors crossed a line that I didn't want to even contemplate. No, if I wanted to protect my family I would have to focus on getting stronger.

Getting stronger had always been part of the plan. It was why I had decided to try for Ravenclaw. It was why I had accepted Pansy as easily as I did. It was why I deliberately sought out Hermione on the Express. True, we're good friends now, but that didn't make my initial reasons for befriending them any better.

Even now, Hermione was worth her weight in gold. She had already faced down Voldemort himself. At the ripe young age of twelve she had faced one of the most potent Dark Lords to ever walk the earth, _and told him off_.

All to protect her friends.

You couldn't _buy_ loyalty like that. Add a few years of Pansy's training and some actual experience and she would truly be a sight to behold.

And Pansy? Even ignoring the physical asset she represented—I mean, I wouldn't be half the fighter I am without her training—Pansy is the heir to the Parkinson family. The Parkinsons are one of the oldest wanded families in Britain and one of the darkest. Her name would open doors that I could never open on my own.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I was proud of the choices I had made when picking my friends, but I had to admit to more than a little guilt as well. Friends shouldn't be picked based on their usefulness. But it's not like I really had a choice in the matter, did I? Voldemort wanted me dead. Whatever hopes I had had of finding a peaceful resolution between the two of us had died a painful death during our last confrontation, and because Voldemort wanted me dead any friend I made became a target, which meant that my friends _needed_ to be able to defend themselves.

I sighed. My reasons for befriending them aside, I am their friend. Our relationship was no less real because I got something aside from simple companionship from it.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I frowned as my thoughts turned to the newest wrinkle in my life.

Wolf and Dragon.

I had no idea what to think when it came to them. On one hand they offered power, power that I would certainly need in the future. And best of all, despite my fears I honestly didn't think they would tamper with my mind. On the other hand they weren't content to simply stay in our mindscape, which meant that they would need to use my body, and that is something I have a problem with.

I like to think of myself as fairly easygoing, but sharing control of my body? That's not something that anybody would do lightly. For all that I could feel our kinship, for all that we are three side of the same person, the thought of simply giving up control like that sent my pulse into overdrive.

(A thought came to me then. A thought that, if I had followed through with it, would have completely changed the course of events. A change that, looking back, would have ended my war with Voldemort before it could have even gotten started.)

The thing was I didn't really have to give up control, did I? I didn't have nearly enough magic for Dragon to survive if she took control, and the main reason I lost to Wolf was because of surprise. If I played my cards right I just had to stay in control long enough to get to a master Legilimens. Snape, for example. With how completely besotted he still was with Mom he would trip over himself at the opportunity to help me.

I could see it now. I activate my portkey and, when Snape comes running into Dumbledore's office, I start bawling. Talking about the 'monsters' in my head. He would be ruthless. He'd completely destroy all traces of them in my mind. I would never have to worry about giving up control of _my_ body.

My hand drifted towards my portkey as I contemplated that thought.

It would be painful—certainly ripping them out of my psyche would be difficult—but definitely doable. All I had to do was say the word and I would be whisked away to do just that. I opened my mouth, but found myself unable to say the word.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill them when they were just animals and I certainly couldn't kill them now that they're actual people. It just wouldn't be right.

I had already killed to protect my family. If I needed to I would kill again, but _murdering_ two—innocents wasn't the right word but it would work—was not something I was willing to do.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

My body laid back down as I turned my senses inward, a smile tugging at my lips.

"Hey girls, can we sleep together tonight?"

…..

**AN: **So early chapter this week, sadly it's still not as long as I would like it to be but sadly school must come first.

Questions?

Comments?

Feedback is always welcome!


	30. Chapter 30

**AN:** A little late I know, but this chapter is a bit longer so it evens out I think.

I also post this story on Spacebattles, a forum site, i'm answer questions there and there's story discussion. So if you're interested just google New Day, New Life Spacebattles, and it should be one of the first ones to pop up.

**Chapter 30:**

**Patience **

**Part 1**

_Joel Jensen_

I am not what anyone would call a morning person. In my humble opinion anything before ten am is the work of the Devil and should be summarily boycotted as such. Sadly, Mum is ex-military and Dad is disgustingly type A, so early rising is, more often than not, my reality.

I am not a morning person but I am used to getting up early. So when Mum told me to go wake up Alex I did so with only minimum amount of eye rolling. It should be noted that I did _anything_ Mum told me with the minimum amount of eye rolling. There was only so much back talk that Mum allowed before she got angry, and that was _before_ she became my Alpha on top of being my Mum.

I made my way upstairs to the guest rooms and knocked on the room Alex was staying in. When I didn't hear any response I listened through the door and heard deep and even breathing. She must be a deep sleeper. I knocked again. When that elicited no response I sighed and opened the door.

"Alex, it's time for breakfast," I said softly, mindful of the day she went through yesterday, but still loud enough that it should have woken her up. Alex, of course, went on sleeping. I went over to the bed and reached out to give her a small shake. As soon as I touched her she shoot up and a fist slammed into my face. I jerked back, more surprised than anything, and barely managed catch her second hand as it sailed towards my chest.

I took a big step backwards, dragging Alex with me, only to let go half way through my step. She fell off the bed in a tangle of limbs, and I assumed a defensive stance.

She got to her feet in one smooth motion and stared at me, a sliver knife in her hand. Where the hell had she gotten that? It hadn't been there a second ago, but before I had time to really ponder that development. My attention was drawn to her eyes. There was something wrong, _very wrong_ with them. They were locked on me but there was no sign of recognition, no emotion, no _anything_. I would have thought that her wolf had taken over, except even then there should have been some emotion. Even if it was just rage.

I tried to edge towards the door, only to freeze when Alex's hand drew back. Her knife hand, that is. I was forcefully reminded that Alex had killed two Hexenwolves just a few months ago. If I didn't want to get added to her kill list I would have to get creative.

"Alex?" I asked, keeping my voice low and nonthreatening. The last thing I needed to do was provoke her by talking. "Alex, I need you to listen to me, okay? I'm not here to hurt you. I just need you to put down the knife, _please_?"

For a moment nothing happened and I was getting ready to call for some help, when awareness seemed to enter her eyes. She glanced around curiously before focusing back on me.

"Joel?" Alex asked.

"Yes," I said, slowly relaxing. She didn't seem hostile now.

"What's going on?" Alex asked, looking worried.

Like I have any idea, is what I wanted to say. Instead I settled for a more diplomatic response. "I tried to wake you up for breakfast and then you tried to _stab me_!" Well I tried for diplomatic.

"I, what?!" Alex said. "No, I wouldn't…" She finally seemed to notice the knife in her hand. "_Oh_." She sat on the edge of the bed and slipped the knife up her sleeve in a motion she had obviously practiced until it was practically instinct.

I frowned, that explained where she had gotten the knife from but it brought up another question. A few questions actually. Like what the _hell_ was an eleven year old girl doing sleeping with knives?! Or more to the point, what was her life like that she thought sleeping with knives was necessary?

"Alex, why do you sleep with knives?" I asked, feeling more than a little weirded out.

She gave an odd look as if she couldn't quite figure out why I would even ask. "…why wouldn't I?"

"They could cut you?" I said.

"That's why I use holsters," Alex said in a 'duh' voice before lifting her sleeve to show me the holster in question.

"Ah," I said before deciding to change the subject. "So, you want to tell me why you attacked me?"

"I didn't," Alex chirped, a huge smile bisecting her face.

"You did. You may not remember, but I do. Given that I was, in fact, there," I said dryly.

Alex sighed, "Well that's the thing. You were here, but I wasn't." I must have looked as confused as I felt because Alex decided to keep explaining. "I remember trying to hit you, and my body did try to hit you. But it wasn't me, at least I wasn't conscious for it. The only reason I can think of for is because I went to sleep last night in my mindscape."

_What_?

**888**

_Alex_

Joel blinked, "What?"

I sighed, I could hardly blame him for his confusion. I barely had a working theory, and I'm the one it happened to. "I went to my subconscious, represented as a physical place, and then I went to sleep while I was there. So when you tried to wake me up you woke my body up but my mind wasn't quite there." I ran my hand through my hair and frowned. I really needed a shower. "A decent comparison can be made to a Fugue State…" I trailed off at his look of complete confusion. I really needed to save complex answers until after I really woke up because that sounded way too complicated to have come from a normal eleven year old.

"What?" Joel asked.

"I wasn't awake yet and tried to hit you on accident," I said. "Sorry."

"Ah," Joel said. "Yesterday must have left you feeling very tense."

Sure that works. "Yeah, sorry," I said. Honestly he could very well be right. Yesterday had been one tense moment after the other, but I'd had bad days before and I'd never tried to attack someone who was just trying to wake me up.

"_Well actually_…" Dragon said, sounding far too amused for my liking.

That doesn't count, it was an instinctual response to Pansy trying to get us to train on Saturday. _Saturday_, the one day of the week I get to relax. I can't be held responsible any action taken to defend that inalienable right.

"_You tried to strangle her_," Dragon said flatly, but I could hear the amusement bubbling up. "_With a _pillow."

Humph, whatever. Where was I? Right, I've had bad days before but I'd never tried to stab someone who woke me up the next day. More importantly, my body had never tried to attack someone without me in the driver's seat. It could have been Dragon or Wolf, but they both denied it and I believed them. So that left one option.

My body can defend itself even without me controlling it. Which is both cool and _extremely _worrying.

"Alex?" Joel asked.

"Hmm?" I responded absently. I'd need test it. Did I need to be asleep in my mindscape for it to happen? Or would simply being there be enough? Would my body attack anyone? Or were there some people it wouldn't? So many questions, so little time.

"Breakfast," Joel said, motioning to the door. "If we don't get down there soon Mum's going to get worried."

"Lead on McDuff," I said, as I started for the door.

"It's lay on, McDuff. Lay on, not lead on." Joel said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, don't they teach you anything in that magic school of yours?"

"About overrated playwrights? No, can't say they do." I said as we started down the spiral staircase.

"Overrated? _Overrated_?" Joel practically shrieked. "Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in history! His plays transcend social class, time, and culture. That's not hype, that's _talent_!"

I couldn't help smiling at his reaction. Touched a nerve, did I? "Didn't he steal most of his ideas from someone else?" I said slyly.

"What?!" Joel said. "There's no way that's true!"

"Because _that_ is certainly impressive," I said completely ignoring his reaction. "Shakespeare, history's most successful con-artist. Who knew?" By the time we made it down the stairs Joel's face was nearly purple.

Werewolf packs are big on bonding. They go out of their way to spend time together. It's not just a Sunday dinner thing, it's an any chance they get thing. Werewolves are always going over to each other's houses to eat or to play. As a species they're clingy, and the loss of two pack mates would only exacerbate their need to be together.

I stepped inside and froze as nearly twenty pairs of eyes turned towards me.

_Eep_.

I had never been comfortable in crowds, I wasn't phobic or anything but I didn't like them either. The only reason I didn't turn tail and run then and there was that most of them looked curious, or at worst, apathetic. The only exception was Ellie who honestly looked angry.

Angry at me or…

"They don't bite, I promise," Joel said, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I gave him a hesitant nod and he directed me to a seat near the end of the huge dining table. Rachel sat at that end, Adam sat to her right with Ellie next to him. Joel sat in the seat directly to the left of Rachel and I sat next to him.

Which put me right across the table from Ellie.

_Joy_.

"Did you sleep ok?" Adam asked looking at me, a concerned look on his face.

"Yes sir," I said.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, call me Adam. None of this sir business," Adam said, smiling.

"At least once more," I said, smirking as I added, "Sir."

"Of course, of course." He chuckled, before standing. "I'd best be off. If I don't get to the office soon there may not be one left." He bent over and kissed Rachel. Both Joel and Ellie made disgusted noises at it.

"Really Dad, we did _not_ need to see that," Joel said.

"Poor boy, subjected to proof that his parents love each other. However will you cope?" Adam said as he straitened. "Bye love." He held Rachel's eyes for a long moment before turning and heading for the door. Despite his seeming hurry he stopped along the way to talk to his pack mates. A quiet word here, a reassuring touch there, all in all it took him nearly ten minutes to get out the door.

"_Good Alpha_," Wolf said.

I nodded in agreement before turning my attention to the spread in front of me. Eggs, toast, porridge and just about every breakfast meat imaginable.

"Help yourself. You'll need a lot of energy for today," Rachel said.

Well _that_ isn't ominous.

**888**

Turns out I should have replaced ominous with mind-numbing boredom. Boredom that had, slowly but surely been replaced by annoyance.

See, step one of acclimating a new werewolf to their situation usually involved meditation. They, the new werewolves, would get a multitude of uses from meditation. Ranging from breathing exercises that would help them control their temper to actively getting in touch with their inner animal.

The problem—and of course there was a problem. What would my life be without problems?—is that I'm already quite talented at meditation. I had already told Rachel about my Occlumency so I thought nothing of showing her that I already knew how to meditate. I had thought I'd get to do something interesting, like actually transforming into a wolf.

No.

Of course not.

That would only make _sense_. Instead I got to spend the next couple of days picking up sticks. That's right; I, Alexandrea Lily Potter, wielder of magic, werewolf slayer, troll icer, Dark Lord defeater, chosen one, last and the greatest of the Potter line, wielder of Death's cloak, and the hope of the Wizarding world—I could go on, but the list is a work in progress so I'll leave it there—had spent the last few days _picking up sticks_.

I realized that there had to be a method to this madness. It undoubtedly had something to do with teaching me patience. If I hadn't already mastered the breathing techniques, this would be a wonderful way to implement them in a controlled environment. I had realized this within the first hour, and had been making use of said breathing techniques since about halfway through my second day.

This whole thing was so banal that Wolf and Dragon had completely retreated to the safety of our mindscape.

The problem, the _real_ problem, was that the Jensens' house was not just a house. It was in fact an estate. A huge estate. One that, unless I missed my guess, made use of spatial expansion charms to enlarge the grounds even further. So, as you can surmise, I had yet to make a real dent in the ambient stick level.

All that I could bear with. If not with a smile, then at least with the stoicism that so stereotyped my new homeland. What truly got my goat was who had been assigned as my watcher.

_Snap_.

"You missed one, Alex. Be sure to pick it up, we wouldn't want Mother to think you're doing a sloppy job of it, would we?" Ellie purred, her eyes locked on my face. I looked from the branch—it was taller than I was and had to weigh the better part of forty pounds—on the ground to the tree that had a large hole from where the branch had been ripped out and I realized something.

She wants me to kill her.

I mean that has to be her goal doesn't it? Why else would she spend the last two days riding me, making digs, and generally being an incredibly unpleasant person? Why else would she put a perfectly serviceable weapon right in front of me, with a look on her face that practically dared me to hit her? Even given that I'm a guest in her house, thus requiring me to be on my best behavior. Even given that before these last few days I would have counted her as a friend of the family.

Even given all _that_, I was this close to grabbing that hunk of wood and hitting her, and hitting her, _and hitting her_. If I had been anyone else, anyone who had gone through what I had just gone through, I would have attacked her by now. Hell, a normal eleven year old—twelve tomorrow—would have completely lost it by now.

Ha, normal.

As if I'd ever been _normal_.

At some point, I'm not sure when, I started laughing. It wasn't a polite giggle, or the full belly laugh of unrestrained joy. No, this was the laughter of someone who realized that laughter was just one letter away from slaughter.

I lunged for the branch and, with an ease that belayed my size, pivoted on my heel and swung it straight for Ellie's face. She stepped back, the branch missed her by inches, and as my swing continued on she grabbed my impromptu weapon. She proceeded to rip it from my hands with enough force yank me from my feet. Before I even had a chance to land Ellie grabbed me by my shoulders and slammed me into a nearby tree. One hand holding my arms above my head, and her forearm digging into my throat.

I strained, pushing and twisting with all my might but Ellie held me firmly in place. She increased the pressure on my neck, not enough to hurt but just enough to make breathing a tad more difficult. I glared at her, and for some reason she…smiled?

"Finally, I was beginning to think it would take you all summer to snap," Ellie said, her odd smile still in place.

What?

"I mean, self-control is good. Great even, but at some point it stops being about controlling emotions and starts being about repressing them, and Alex? That really isn't healthy," Ellie said.

No seriously. _What_?


	31. Chapter 31

**AN: So, long time no see. For those who don't know I lost my house to flooding in late October, and while I am staying somewhere with an internet connection, I haven't really felt like writing. Then when I'm about to start writing again my dog runs away. So it's been a crappy month, but now I'm in the mood to write and I have to time so expect new chapters soonish.**

**AN2: Also this is the last summer chapter, the next one will start with the Hogwarts Express.**

**Chapter 31:**

**Patience **

**Part 2**

**Alex**

My questions, significantly politer than the _'What the hell' _I wanted to go with, were answered quickly. As I surmised, the menial labor was intended to get under my skin. It gave me a chance to practice my breathing techniques to help combat the rage that all werewolves suffer from. Everyone has a temper, but a werewolf's temper is particularly short, and when they lose control people die. So the point of the exercise wasn't to stop yourself from blowing up so much as it was to find the point at which you would blow up.

Finding that point, that line in the sand where you simply _could not_ take it anymore, was of vital importance. If you didn't know where that line was you couldn't extend it. Most importantly, knowing where it was let you know when to get away from a situation before the bodies started hitting the floor.

I got that. I understood that. Hell, looking at it objectively I even supported it.

At the moment though, I wasn't feeling very _objective_.

Ellie and I were currently walking back towards the house. We were side by side because she refused to walk ahead of me—smart move on her part—and I refused to walk ahead of her. She took this time to enlighten me about the purpose of the last few days and I fingered my knives through the sleeves of my shirt.

"_You attacked a Tierwechsler with a stick. Not even a sharp stick, a blunt stick_," Dragon said, disgusted. "_Unless you can suddenly hit with enough power to dust concrete pillars, blunt damage is the worst way to try and kill a Tierwechsler_." In my mind's eye Dragon shook her head. "_Honestly it's like I don't even know you_!" Even though she didn't speak I could feel Wolf's agreement.

I rolled my eyes, trust them to be upset by the ineptitude of my murder attempt rather than _by_ the murder attempt. The fact that I'm the moral center of our—is gestalt the word?—was worrying on a multitude of levels.

"_Gestalt works_," Dragon said. "_If you're going to kill someone, do it right the first time. Botching it just gets us more enemies, and worse makes us look incompetent_!"

Yes, because that was all that needed considering when deciding whether or not to kill someone. Not if it's right or wrong, just how their death benefits us.

"_Neither Wolf nor I am human. Why should we care about human morals?_" Dragon said.

We live with humans, humans dominate the world. Taking their morals into account is simply the smart thing to do.

"_That's simply part of the cost vs benefits that must be considered before we choose to kill. Not a reason for us to actually care about the morals themselves_," Dragon said dismissively.

Uncle Vernon is human. Aunt Petunia is human. Dudley is human. It's true we may have to do things they may not agree with, but acting without a care for human morals, for _their_ morals, will hurt them.

I could feel Wolf mulling that over, but Dragon's emotions were harder to place. It felt like she couldn't quite decide what to feel about my point. There was frustration, concern, and a strong urge to simply dismiss my claim, but before I could really make sense of it Dragon faded away.

She leave the house?

"_She walked out and turned full lizard as soon as she was out the door_," Wolf said. "_It's not really a house if it only has the front room though, is it_?"

Just the front room? Didn't she see the hallway? I hadn't had time to go there yet, but I was sure it had many interesting things. Things that I would get to at some point in the future.

"Alex?" Ellie asked.

"Hmm?" I said, turning my attention to our surroundings. While I had been talking with Wolf, Ellie and I had managed to make our way to the hallway outside Rachel's office.

"Are you okay? I know I was a little harsh but that's how it has to be done," Ellie said, a worried frown on her face.

"I'm fine, just thinking," I said, trying to reassure her.

"What are you thinking about?" Ellie asked, as she opened the door to Rachel's office.

"Phil…" I started to say only to get cut off mid word.

"Alex!" Aunt Petunia said as she jumped off the sofa, ran over and drew me into a bone crushing hug. My ribs groaned in protest even as my shoulders loosened.

"_Aunty_," I whispered into her shoulder as I returned her hug in kind.

**888**

I'm not sure how long we held onto each other but before long the sound of a clearing throat interrupted our reunion. I rearranged myself on Aunt Petunia's lap—at some-point we had made it to the couch were Uncle Vernon was sitting—to see the rest of the room and finally noticed Rachel and Adam were also here.

"I hate to interrupt, but we didn't ask you to come just so you could see Alex," Adam said apologetically.

I furrowed my brow, and my shoulders slumped. If they weren't here for me why were they here?

"So why did you ask us to come over today? When we talked yesterday you said for us to wait until tomorrow to drop in," Uncle Vernon said. Aunt Petunia's arms tightened around me.

Adam exchanged looks with Rachel before she took over. "We received a video that seems to detail Alex's escape from the ghouls."

For a moment what Rachel said failed to compute. It simply didn't make _sense_. Who would even have video of my escape? For that matter why the hell would they, whoever they are, send it here? It's not like my association with the White Cliffs pack was well known, was it?

Belatedly it occurred to me what this meant right now. Rachel had video of my escape. The escape that was only made possible by me threatening to commit suicide and the timely intervention of my cloak.

_Oh shit._


	32. Chapter 32

**AN: **Un-betad

**Chapter 32:**

**Year 2**

_**Lockhart**_**?**

_Hermione_

Another year at Hogwarts.

In the interest of honesty I must admit I didn't know how I felt about that. On one hand it was school, _magic_ _school_, a chance to learn new things. A chance to _improve_ _myself_. Perhaps most importantly though was the fact that I would finally get the chance to see my friends again. My friends who had both stopped sending letters half way through the summer. I had known Alex might not be able to get in contact during the summer, but Pansy's abrupt stop in communication was unexpected.

On the other hand it meant another year at _Hogwarts_, with all the near death experiences that came with going to _Hogwarts_. Or maybe it was just Alex's friends that had to deal with the near death experiences. Certainly none of the other students seemed to have nearly so much…insanity in their lives.

Killer Quidditch balls.

_Honestly_.

"Ready, dear?" Daddy asked, as we stood outside the entrance to Platform 9 ¾. Mum had to work today. For some reason their dental practice was especially busy today. Daddy barely had enough time to even drop me off at Kings Cross, as it was he was already going to be late getting to work.

"Yes, Daddy!"

"And you're sure you don't want me to walk you in?" Daddy asked.

I tactfully refrained from rolling my eyes. "Yes, Daddy."

"Alright dear," Daddy said smiling, before pulling me into a hug. "Remember your Mother and I are just a letter away." I nodded and he continued. "Have a good semester."

"Love you, Daddy," I gave him another squeeze before pulling away and pushing my cart through the barrier. I didn't bother with a running start, all the books agreed that was only necessary the first time, and came out the other side to see a platform bustling with activity. There were hours yet until the Express was due to leave, so I was surprised at the amount of people here, but really surprised me was who was here.

Aurors.

_Lots_ of Aurors.

From where I stood I could see a dozen milling about the platform and a few flying clockwise around the Express. I stood there for a long minute trying to figure out why there was a contingent of law enforcement standing guard. I must have taken too long because one of the Aurors made his way over.

"Morning," He said with a politely vacant smile. "Need any help getting your things onto the Express?"

I nodded, "Yes sir." Neither Alex nor Pansy would let me hear the end of it if I gave up the chance to find out what was going on.

"Please, call me Mr. Shacklebolt. Sir just makes me feel old," Mr. Shacklebolt said before flicking his wand at my trunk causing it to float. "Would you like me to help you get your trunk onto the Express?

"Yes, Mr. Shacklebolt." I said as we started for the train. Conversation stalled as we entered the express until we reached my chosen cabin. Before he could leave I spoke up. "Sir, I mean, Mr. Shacklebolt?"

"Yes?" Mr. Shacklebolt replied.

I hesitated a moment before just deciding to go for it. "Why are there so many Aurors here? I mean I've never seen any on the platform before, let alone this many. So, uh, is there anything going on?" I am far and away a better actor than Alex, but I admit my execution needs some polish.

"There's nothing to worry about. Dumbledore asked the Ministry to step up our presence and my boss may have gone a little overboard." Mr. Shacklebolt said. "I'd best be off. Have a good year Miss Granger." With one last politely empty smile and a slight incline of his head he was off, closing the door behind him.

"Nothing to worry about?" I glanced out of the compartments window at the Aurors who had taken up positions around the platform. "Does anyone ever believe that?" I sighed before pulling out my Transfiguration textbook and sitting down.

**888**

_Hermione_

I put the book down with a sigh and glanced anxiously out of the window before pulling my wand out. "_Tempus_." It showed exactly what I knew it would show, that the Express was due to leave in ten minutes.

Ten minutes and still no sign of Alex or Pansy.

As though summoned by my thoughts the compartment door opened and in walked Pansy with a look of carefully controlled calm etched on her face. With unhurried motions she settled her trunk next the other two and sat down across from me.

I opened my mouth but she cut me off before I could speak.

"I am fine, it has just been a long week," Pansy said, a week smile gracing her face. "And before you ask, no I don't want to talk about it."

I hesitated a moment before agreeing. "If you're sure."

"I a-," Pansy's eyes narrowed before her hand flashed across the cabin and grasped something before yanking her arm backwards. Pansy and an invisible opponent—it had to be Alex, right?—rolled around the floor of the compartment before Pansy managed to get the upper hand and pinned her foe. A moment later Alex slowly faded into view leaving the two of them in a…odd position.

Alex's face was firmly planted on the carpet. Pansy was kneeling on Alex's arms and Alex's legs were trapped under Pansy's arms.

I stared wide-eyed at the them for a moment before sighing. "Hello Alex, how are you?"

Apparently deciding to act as if nothing was wrong Alex answered in a perky, if muffled, voice. "Fine, and you?"

"Good," I said before looking at Pansy. "Are you going to let her up?"

"Why?" Pansy asked, an easy smile adorning her face. "She seems happy exactly where she is."

Alex gave a thumbs up at that and I sighed before tilting my head to the side. "Alex, how long were sitting there?"

"…twenty minutes," Alex said. I could see a blush working its way up her face.

"For someone who can completely disappear, you're horrible at staying unnoticed," Pansy said, finally letting Alex up.

"Hermione didn't even notice me coming in, or me putting my trunk up," Alex said as she got up and sat down next to me. "_I_ am very sneaky."

"Hermione was reading, a dragon could have gotten past her without her noticing," Pansy said rolling her eyes as she took a seat next to Alex.

I wanted to take offence at that but she had a point so I decided to interrupt before Alex could agree with her. "So how was your summer, Alex?"

"First half was great but things kinda went downhill after the ghouls kidnapped me," Alex said, idly looking at the trunks. If anyone else had said that I would have thought they were just fishing for a reaction. With Alex though, I knew she was being honest…_and_ fishing for a reaction.

"Just you, or…?" Pansy asked, frowning.

"My Aunt and cousin, but thankfully they were too busy being drugged to be conscious for the ordeal," Alex said, turning to face Pansy. "Everyone got out ok, well everyone but the ghouls that is." A darkly satisfied look flashed across her features before settling into a half smile. "But I'm not quite ready to talk about that yet. Perhaps once we've settled in?" Alex gave to room a deliberate once over before arching her brow.

I frowned, had she sensed something? "So aside form that, how was your summer?"

"Ah, could have been better." Alex winced and Pansy's frown deepened. "After the kidnapping things were…tense. I stayed at the Jensen's for most of the summer, _but_ I did get some great books on my birthday!"

"Anything interesting?" I asked.

"Well my Aunt Lu Si got me the latest in _The Gods Are Bastards_ series!" Alex said, an eager smile spread across her face.

I leaned towards Alex. "Really?!"

"_Ravenclaws_!" Pansy muttered, rolling her eyes.

**888**

_Alex_

Time flies when you're having fun, before I knew it the Express was coming to a stop at Hogsmeade station and we were riding the thestral drawn carriages up the hill towards Hogwarts.

"Is there anything we should be prepared for this year?" Pansy asked.

"Well, the basilisk is dead so there shouldn't be any attacks from that angle. Unless of course someone raises it from the dead, but that seems unlikely," I paused trying to think about how to phrase this next part. I felt more secure talking here than I did in our compartment, after all Hermione's charmed trunk wasn't here, but there was no reason not to be circumspect. "If things go like I remember them then I'll need to check the first years out to make sure none of them have their hands on the Dark Lord's diary."

Pansy blinked, "His…_diary_?"

"Is it one of his…?" Hermione trailed off suggestively.

"Yep, but aside from that nothing springs to mind. I mean we don't have Lockhart for defense this year so we should be able to actually learn something," I said a smile tugging at my lips. Whatever this year had to throw at me, at least I wouldn't have to deal with that fop.

Pansy and Hermione exchanged a look before Pansy spoke up. "Lockhart _is_ our Defense Professor. Didn't you read the newsletter?"

"Newsletter?" I asked.

"It comes attached with our Hogwarts' supply letter every year," Hermione said.

"Why does Hogwarts need a-," I stopped abruptly as we passed through the ward line. The all-encompassing feel of Hogwarts magic pressed down on me robbing me of my breath.

"Alex?" Hermione asked, concern coloring her tone.

"F-fine," I gasped. It hadn't been nearly this strong last month,

"_The wards have been upgraded,_" Dragon said, speaking for the first time since we went school shopping. "_You'll be fine in a moment._"

Pansy's eyes shot wide open. "What the hell?!"

I got my breathing under control and gave the two of them a reassuring smile. "Sorry, I thought I was ready to sense Hogwarts again but the wards have been given what feels like twenty times more power than when I was here a month ago." The carriage had come to a stop and outside the other students were already entering the castle. "Looks like we need to get going." I opened the carriage door and started walking on shaky feet towards Hogwarts. A moment later Pansy and Hermione started following.

We followed the crowed to the great hall where Pansy pulled off and went to sit with the Slytherins. Though not before giving me a probing look. Hermione and I found our seats just in time to watch the first years enter the hall. I glanced up and down the table as Professor McGonagall started calling out names and sighed when I noticed a distinct lack of refreshments. I gave a moment's thought to simply asking the house-elves for a glass of water before deciding to put my ludicrously expensive equipment upgrades to good use.

I focused on the Mokeskin lining of my sleeve and whispered, "Water bottle." One moment there was nothing and the next a bottle of water slipped form my sleeve and into my waiting hand. I popped the cap and took a sip of ice cold water.

_Ahh_.

One of the best things about using properly enchanted Mokeskin in place of your standard spatial expansion charms is what I like to call the Pause Feature. Anything that goes into the Mokeskin lining of my sleeves ceases to progress in time until I bring it out again. Which meant that cold water stayed cold, hot coco stayed hot and potions wouldn't lose any of their potency.

And to think, Dragon had wanted to buy a multi compartment trunk instead.

"_It would have been awesome, and you know it!_" Dragon muttered. I rolled my eyes, recapped the bottle and it back up my sleeve. Professor McGonagall was still calling out first year names so I turned my attention to the head table.

My eyes settled on the empty seat that were Madam Hooch usually sat and despite the solid warmth of the Great Hall a shiver went down my spine. Madam Hooch, _Voldemort_, had sat there day after day watching me. Watching my friends. Planning to sacrifice us!

And I'd had no idea.

I'd been so focused on Quirrell. So sure that he was actually the culprit, even after it became patently clear that that wasn't the case. Letting my preconceptions blind me was a huge mistake. One that almost got me and Hermione killed. One that did get Quirrell killed.

I can't afford to make mistakes like that.

Not anymore.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Hermione gripped my hands and drew them under the table. "And don't say you're fine, you're obviously not." She deliberately ran her thumb over my hands.

My _furry_ hands.

I swallowed, "Ah, thanks." I focused on my hands, the fur faded and my nails shortened. A moment later they returned to their usual pristine condition, leaving no evidence of anything out the ordinary.

"Alex?" Hermione asked.

I pulled her into a hug. "We'll talk after dinner, promise." I nodded towards the head table where Dumbledore was standing. "But it looks like it's time to pay attention." We pulled away from each other and turned towards the head table, but Hermione's hand stayed on mine.

"I hope you are all as excited as I am for another knowledge filled year here at Hogwarts." There was a smattering of applause. "Although I find it more likely that you are far more excited for tonight's feast." The applause, particularly from the Gryffindors, was nearly deafening. Dumbledore let it go on for a few seconds before raising his hand for silence, it came near instantly. "But first I have some news to share, so please bear with me a moment.

"Firstly, as I'm sure some of you noticed, Hogwarts siege wards have been activated." Hermione and I traded looks as whispers filled the Great Hall. Dumbledore's eyes rested on me for a moment before he continued, voice grave. "The Ministry has received confirmation, Bellatrix Lestrange is alive." The Great Hall fell completely silent. "Trips to Hogsmeade have be restricted to once a month. Students will be required to stay in groups of ten while off grounds and Hogsmeade itself will be under heavy Aurora guard. If an Aurora gives you an order you will do it, or I will know why." Dumbledore's eyes traveled the Great Hall looking for dissent. "Am I understood?"

As one the student body voiced its agreement.

"Good," Dumbledore smiled, a bit of tension leaving his frame. "Now on to more pleasant matters." Dumbledore clapped his hands and the welcoming feast appeared. "Please, eat."

For a long moment there was only silence but before long the sounds of hushed conversation and eating broke out.

"_Bellatrix Lestrange_!" Anthony Goldstein said. "That can't be right, can it?"

"I thought she was dead," Padma Patil said. "I remember reading about it somewhere."

"You're right. It was a huge story, front page of the Prophet and everything," Roger Davis said.

"Ok, but she was dead, right?" Anthony asked, at Davis' nod he continued. "So it can't be her, I mean…dead people don't just come back to life! Right?"

Wouldn't be the first time I thought before taking a bite of my dinner. Oh, roast duck. Delicious!

There was an abrupt silence around me, casing me to look up.

Hermione, along with our immediate table mates were looking right at me. "What?" I blinked at them.

"What do you mean 'it wouldn't be the first time'?" Davis asked, in a poor imitation of my voice.

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" I asked. I _really_ needed to work on that.

"Yes Potter, you did." Davis said, looking for all the world as if he was in pain.

"Ah," I said. "Well it wouldn't be the first time someone failed to stay dead, would it?"

"I think they're asking _who else_ came back to life," Hermione said, her voice sounding a little strained.

I thought for a moment. I couldn't just say Voldemort, though that seemed to be who Hermione thought I would say. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Heinrich Kemmler." Was it just me or had it suddenly gotten colder all of a sudden? "He was killed six times, but he just kept coming back. Until the White Council, the _entire_ White Council, The Wanded Ministries and every ally they could call on finally put him down for good in 1961." Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, it was one of the few times in history that White Council and the Ministry of Magic every worked together.

As I waited for someone to respond I took the chance to take an especially large bite of the duck. As I chewed I noticed that nobody was talking. In fact everyone nearby was staring at me.

No, not at me.

_Behind_ me.

With a sinking feeling in my gut I slowly turned around, expecting to see a professor. Instead I found the Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's house ghost, looking resplendent in her floor length rob, as she stared at me.

Ghosts do not need to breathe. They do not need to blink. They have no muscles, so they have no need to even move. You could almost be fooled into thinking they were simply transparent statues, if it were not for their presence. Ghosts are not people, they're not even the souls of people. What they are, is the memory of a person burned onto the world as they died. For all that they resemble people there is an inherent wrongness to their presence. It is as if your very soul rejects them.

At least that's how the textbooks describe ghosts. No matter how much of an instinctual aversion I have for Binns' class, I can't say that I ever quite felt like that. Though I will say that The Grey Lady's gaze caused my stomach to clench a little.

For a long moment we just stared at each other, I unable to speak and she apparently unwilling. I redoubled my chewing efforts as she continued to stare at me, before settling for a small wave.

The books describes ghost's voices as 'akin to the grinding of stone' or 'like the rattling of chains'. The Grey Lady's voice was melodious. "Speak not that cur's name, Lady Potter. Tis unworthy of you."

I finally managed to swallow the duck. "I-I'll keep that in mind!" I ducked my head in a shallow facsimile of a bow. One she returned with in-kind before departing, a faint smile on her lips.

I turned back around and absently reached for my cup and took a drink only to spit it back out. "_Pumpkin juice_!" I quickly asked for a glass of ice water to rinse the taste from my mouth.

As I was doing that the others were shaking themselves out their ghost induced disquiet.

"Binns is bad enough, are the other ghosts going to start bothering us as well?" Anthony asked, glancing about uneasily.

"Probably, the siege wards funnel power to the castle's ghosts. So that they can help in case of an emergency," Hermione said. "I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."

"_Great_," Anthony said. "First Lestrange is back from the dead, now we have to deal with a haunted castle!"

"Hogwarts has always been haunted," Padma said. "Most of the ghosts just stayed invisible."

"_That doesn't help!"_ Anthony shouted. His voice a sharp contrast to the near complete silence of the Great Hall.

At some point during our conversation Dumbledore had once again stood up and had been patiently waiting for us to finish. Anthony's face turned bright red and he ducked down as the silence stretched on, until finally Dumbledore smiled and stared talking, mercifully taking the attention off of us.

"I trust, as we are all fed and watered, you will help me in welcoming our new Defense Professor, famed adventurer and award winning novelist, Gilderoy Lockhart!" Dumbledore waved towards his right and a dark haired man stood up. An easy, confident, smile adorned his face as he made to speak, before he said a word though he paused and looked towards Dumbledore for permission.

Dumbledore sat down and waved him on.

"Thank you for that wonderful introduction Professor, I shall do my best to live up to it." Professor Lockhart said. The Lockhart I remembered had looked young and artificially confident. Professor Lockhart, on the other hand looked more like a dignified forty. The slightest hint of grey touched his dark brown hair and he spoke with a bone deep self-possession that could not be faked. "I flatter myself to think that most of you will have heard of me before now, but for those of you who have not, I thought I would give you a brief overview.

"I was born in London, but moved to America before I could have the privilege of attending Hogwarts. Once I was old enough, I began traveling the world and once that got too harrowing for my blood, I decided to write about my adventures instead." Professor Lockhart paused, a note of uncertainty entering his voice as he continued. "This will be my first time teaching, so I hope you all will forgive me my inevitable missteps." He cleared his throat. "That said, I look forward to seeing each and every one of you in my classroom this year."

Professor Lockhart inclined his head towards Dumbledore before retaking his seat.

Dumbledore stood, returning Professor Lockhart's nod with one of his own before turning to face the students. "I had hoped to introduce your new Flight Instructor, but sadly he's feeling a bit under the weather at the moment."

My mind flashed back to Madam Hooch's mysterious illness at the begging of last year, and for a moment I had no idea how to feel. I mean Voldemort wouldn't try the same thing two years in a row would he?

"I hope you will all give Professor Lupin a warm welcome when he feels up to joining us." Dumbledore said. "Now that that's out of the way I believe it's time for the last matter of the night. The school song, pick your favorite tune and sing along!"

As the rest of the school began to imitate the world's worst choir, my mind—minds?—was occupied by another thought.

"_Uncle Moony_?!" Wolf, Dragon and I said as one.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33:**

**Odds and Happenstance**

_Alex_

Uncle Moony? What is he doing here? It was too early for him to be teaching, and why as the Flight Instructor? From what I remembered, he was a great Defense Professor. But then again, no one else knew that, did they? If Dumbledore had to choose between a Lockhart that actually seemed to live up to the hype and Uncle Moony well it was an obvious choice, wasn't it?

"Ah, music. Truly it is one of the greatest magic's humanity has ever produced," Dumbledore said wistfully before focusing back on the students. "Given tonight's revelations I sure some of you were too busy talking to eat so, to ensure no one goes to sleep with an empty belly, the Great Hall will remain open for another hour. Prefects, please give your new housemates a chance to eat before you take them to their new abodes, and please remember with the siege wards active finding your way may be a bit harder than you remember." His speech done Dumbledore made his way out of the hall and I turned back to my dinner.

I was in the process of bringing a piece of duck to my mouth when Hermione spoke up.

"Are you ready to leave?"

I looked from the piece of duck on my fork to my nearly full plate and the first thought that crossed my mind was not fit for public consumption.

"Not quite," I said instead and brought my fork to my mouth once more. Only to be interrupted, again.

"That's your third plate, you can't possibly be hungry," Hermione said.

"Is it? I honestly hadn't noticed. Ah well," I sighed and, after casting a quick _Impervious_ charm on my napkin, rolled up my food before sticking it up my sleeve. At Hermione's furred brow I just smirked and stood. "Well, you ready or what?"

Hermione stood and we started for the entrance, where I could see Pansy already waiting for us, but before we'd even made it three steps when a voice from the Hufflepuff table drew us to a stop.

"Really Potter, couldn't even wait for the feast to end before disappearing?"

I turned towards the voice, a frown tugging on my lips before I forced my face into a look of neutrality. "I'm sorry?" I looked up and down the table trying to figure out who had spoken when the voice came again.

"I said." My eyes snapped to Sally-Ann Perks—bitch, lazy bitch—but no it wasn't her speaking. Sitting next to her, amongst a group of second years, was Ernie Macmillan. "Couldn't even wait for the feast to end before you disappear off to parts unknown. What, too good to spend time with the rest of us. Or do you do you have ghosts to cavort with?"

I stared at him for a long moment unsure how to even begin to respond.

"_Did he just imply what I think he did_?" Dragon asked, sounding as dumbfounded as I felt.

Yes.

"_Kill him,_" Wolf said.

That's a little extreme, don't you think?

"_So what do you suggest_?" Dragon asked.

I blinked and a positively saintly smile appeared on my face as I decide what to do. I caught his eye and, never breaking contact, calmly walked over to Macmillan. His face steadily lost color the closer I got, and I pulled him into a hug.

"P-Potter?" Macmillan asked.

I started humming a little tune and rocking side to side.

"Potter!" Macmillan said.

I pulled back, my beauteous smile still firmly in place, and said. "I'm sorry you're having a bad day. I hope tomorrow is better for you." Actually killing the little bastard was off the table for moral, ethical and just plain practical reasons. But kindness, ohh, I could shove that down his little throat until he choked on it.

I let him go, grabbed Hermione's hand and made my way over to the doors where Pansy was waiting with a decidedly unhappy look on her face. Once the three of us were safely out of hearing range of the Great Hall I dropped Hermione's hand and started shuddering.

"Can one of you please _Scourgify_ me, please? I feel dirty," I said. "Can't believe I touched the little bastard."

Hermione obliged and Pansy gave me a curious look.

"What was that all about?" Pansy asked.

"I have no idea," I said as the cat-tongue-like feel of Hermione's _Scourgify _washed over me.

"Maybe he likes you," Hermione said.

"What?!" I said.

"Well Mum always used to say if a boy is picking on you, it usually means he fancies you," Hermione said, a look of wide-eyed innocence on her face.

"Macmillan likes me?" I blanched. "_Eww_!"

"_He's far too weak_," Dragon said.

"_Prey_," Wolf agreed.

Pansy twitched and started up the stairs. "Potter, don't you think it's time we got to the Room?"

I swallowed my revulsion and followed her, behind me Hermione followed chuckling under her breath.

I glared at Pansy as we made our way to the seventh floor. "It's entirely your fault, you know."

"What's my fault?" Pansy asked tilting her head back to look at me.

I pointed to the still chuckling Hermione. "That!"

"I'm fairly positive she's laughing at you, not me," Pansy said, with an arched brow.

"Exactly!" I said. "Hermione used to be so nice. She wouldn't have so much as laughed at someone else before we started hanging out with you. Now she's teasing me about Macmillan, of all people. Ergo, this is all your fault." I nodded entirely satisfied with my unshakable logic.

Behind me, the chuckles turned into full-blown belly laughs.

"Is it really?" Pansy shook her head. "Whatever lets you sleep at night Ice Queen, whatever lets you sleep."

Behind me, I heard Hermione miss a step so I reached back and steadied her.

"Thank you," Hermione said. "Speaking of sleep, was I the only one who had trouble sleeping during the summer?"

"No, you aren't," Pansy said as we neared the painting of Barnabas the Barmy.

"So tonight?" I asked as I summed the Room.

"Sounds good to me," Hermione said as she opened the door and stepped inside.

"This is new," Pansy said as we entered the room.

"It's a copy of Rachel Jensen's office," I said.

"It's nice, but why are we here instead of our library?" Hermione asked.

"Because it has a TV and I want to show you two something," I said as we took a seat on the couch directly facing the fireplace. I reached over Pansy and grabbed a remote control from the side table and pressed a button causing a flat screen TV to descend from the ceiling. "You know how I said I was kidnapped by ghouls? Well someone took a video of it, and they sent it to the Jensens." Before they could respond I pressed another button and the lights dimmed, another and the video started.

I'd already watched the video more times than I ever wanted to so instead of enduring it another time I watched my friends. Would they react with the weary understanding of the Jensens? The fiery rage of Uncle Vernon? The shaken horror, followed by the deep worry of Aunt Petunia? Or something else entirely?

"…_have fun screaming_."

Hermione's hand covered her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the screen.

Pansy, though, seemed to be following Uncle Vernon's example. Her fists were clenched and her narrowed eyes reflected the light off the screen, giving her a frightening visage. At least, until my cloak showed the ghoul that it was higher on the food chain than ghouls. At that point, her brows furred for a moment before they shot wide open and her head snapped around to stare at me.

"Did your cloak just eat someone?!" Pansy demanded.

I paused the video.

"Well A, it happened about a month ago and secondly it ate a ghoul. I'm not sure they actually count as people," I said. They were on _The List_ just below 'people actively threating my family' and 'Active Nazis'. Pansy's eyes narrowed and her wand appeared in her hand. "But yes, it did."

"Did you know it ate people when you lent it to me?" Pansy asked, rolling her wand between her fingers.

"No, I didn't," I said, giving her wand a wary look. "But, I mean, it's fairly obvious that it only attacks people who are actively trying to hurt me and I gave it to you to keep you safe. As long as you didn't decide to murder me while wearing it, you were perfectly secure." I was _ninetypercent_ sure I wasn't lying to her.

Pansy gave me a hard stare before leaning back into the couch, apparently satisfied with my answer.

Hermione was not.

"Invisibility cloaks don't eat people," Hermione said. "They do one thing and one thing only. Keeps people invisible for as long as the Demiguise fur remains potent. That," she pointed at the screen, "is not an invisibility cloak."

"Yes it is, it's just that it's _the_ invisibility cloak rather than just _an_ invisibility cloak," I said.

"You can't possibly be implying what I think you are," Pansy said. "Are you?"

I smirked.

"What?" Hermione asked. "What's she implying?"

During the summer, after things had calmed down, I had practiced with my cloak and I'd found that as long as I was touching it I could make it move with just a bit of focus.

My cloak slithered out from under my collar and pooled in my lap. "I'm implying that this is the cloak of Ignotus Peverell. Or more to the point, that this is Death's Cloak." The effect seemed to be lost on my friends. Oh wait, I am the only one who can see it aren't I? I barely managed to keep a blush from rising past my neck.

"Of course, it is," Pansy said pinching her nose. "_Of course, it is_."

"When you say it death's cloak…" Hermione said.

"I mean Death's cloak," I said. I focused for a moment and the cloak crept up my sleeve and settled on my shoulders.

"As in the Angel of Death?" Hermione asked, looking a little lost.

"I'm pretty sure they're different entities," I said. Didn't Dresden encounter an Angel of Death after he got shot? I frowned.

Should I call him, see if he managed to get in contact with his daughter? Because if he hadn't and things progressed as I remembered them—well honestly it may well be _too late_ to change anything but I had to try, didn't I?

"Lady Death predates the first recorded mention of the White God by several millennia," Pansy said, raising her eyes to catch mine.

"Lady Death?" I frowned. "I've read the story, it only calls Death, _Death_. No titles or anything."

"The children's version, yes. The actual legend is more…_accurate_," Pansy said.

"Where did you learn about it?" I asked. "I haven't read any mention of it, except in the tales of Beedle the Bard."

"My Father, and he learned it from the Dark Lord," Pansy said a disgruntled frown settling on her face. "It's well known that he was obsessed with the gods' artifacts, their _power_. What wasn't well known was his obsession with the Deathly Hollows."

"Obsession?" I asked.

"The Dark Lord fancied himself," Pansy shook her head. "No—do you know what his name means?"

"Flight of Death, in French," Hermione said.

"Exactly," Pansy nodded. "Now the legend of the Deathly Hollows says that whoever collects all the Hollows becomes the Master of Death. What isn't commonly known is that Lady Death is dead."

"Isn't that kinda," I searched for the right word, "oxymoronic?"

"You'd think but that's not the point," Pansy said. "The point is, how can you be the Master of Death if there is no Lady Death to master?" She looked at us expectantly. "Well?"

"You can't," I said. "Well, unless bringing them together brings her back?" And wasn't that a lovely thought? Voldemort in command of a reincarnated Death, dispensing death and destruction without anything short of, _possibly_, the Swords of the Cross able to stand in his way. The very thought sent shivers down my spine.

"Unless he wanted them because, with Death dead—_can't believe I just said that_—he wouldn't have to worry about an angry god coming to collect its' property," Hermione said looking thoughtful.

Pansy arched an eyebrow and stared at Hermione for a long moment before speaking. "That's a good idea, but not why he wanted them. He wanted them, _wants them_ because he believes that if he unites them he will become Lord Death."

I absently took Hermione's hand in my own and gave it a squeeze.

"Ah," I said faintly. That was worse than him being the Master of Death, wasn't it? At least, then there would be the hope of the divine equivalent of an angry jinn. Turning all his orders against him until he was a screaming pile of flesh just begging to die.

But Voldemort _as_ Death that was an entirely different, and completely horrifying, ballgame.

"Did he ever get his hands on one?" I asked. If I remembered correctly Voldemort had made the ring a Horcrux. Or was it the stone in the ring?

"As far as I know he didn't," Pansy said. "But Father hadn't been part of the Death Eaters for years when the Dark Lord died."

"I didn't think Death Eaters got to retire," I said. "Even if they were allowed to retire, wouldn't he just Obliviate them?"

"Why would he?" Pansy's voice wasn't angry or sad, it was a mix of cynicism, bitterness, and resignation that had long since distilled into a dark humor. "They're all loyal, every last one of them."

Hermione and I traded uneasy looks.

"Pansy, is your Father still working for the Dark Lord?" I asked, with a sinking feeling in my gut. After all, you didn't actually need to be a Death Eater to help Voldemort, did you?

Would I have to do something about Pansy's Father?

Could I?

Given that he's Pansy's father, did I even want to?

"My Father is a bed-bound invalid!" Pansy snapped. "He couldn't help the Dark Lord even if it were his fondest wish!"

"Good, well not _good_, but, ah, you know what I mean," I said.

Hermione put her hand on my shoulder. "What Alex is trying to say is, he's your Father. Whatever he may or may not have done before is irrelevant."

"Yes, exactly!" I said. "Besides, he's obviously paid enough as it is." As long as he wasn't threatening my family, what did I care about his past?

Pansy slumped into the couch, her hands coring her face. "You have _no idea_." And then she started crying. Not big ugly sobs, but a silent shaking that was all the more disturbing for its lack of noise.

I felt my world tilt, Pansy, crying? It not that I didn't know she could cry but she always seemed so confident. So solid. To see her actually break down felt wrong.

As shocked as I felt I didn't let it stop me. I pulled Pansy in between Hermione and I and we held her until she stopped shaking.

**888**

By the time everything had settled down last night it was too late to make our way back to our dorms. So we elected to spend the night in the Room, rather than risk discovery by patrolling Professors.

I was the first one up the next day, but for once I didn't need to use the Switching spell to escape from bed. Pansy slept in my usual spot with Hermione's arms fastened around her waist. I smiled and quietly made my way to the bathroom.

I finished my morning activities and checked the time, nodded to myself, and went to wake my friends up. A transfigured feather, one lightly bruised sternum, and ten minutes later we were off to our respective dorms to retrieve our supplies for the day.

"I can't believe you thought it was a good idea to wake us up with a feather," Hermione lectured as we rounded the corner towards the Ravenclaw dorm entrance. "You should be happy the floor was carpeted otherwise we would have had to take you to the hospital wing. Then where would we be?"

"In the hospital wing, I'd imagine," I said, trying and failing to stifle a smile.

Hermione predicable ignored my response. "I'll tell you where we'd be. Late to class, that's where! Honestly, Alex, if you're going to pull an early morning prank, _at least_, have a shield charm ready." As we neared the bronze knocker that guarded the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, the knocker started to speak its riddle only for Hermione to answer it before it could get more than a few syllables out. There was a moment of incredulous silence before the knocker swung open and we entered the tower.

I arched my brow at Hermione as we crossed the common room and started up the stairs towards our room. "Did you memorize all the riddles it gives or something?"

"No, but the answer was obvious, wasn't it?" Hermione said opening the door to our room.

"Not really," I said only to be distracted by the Emperor sized bed that had taken the place of our old beds. "That's new." I turned towards Hermione. "Did you?"

"I don't think so?" Hermione said, looking bewildered. "Do you think it's a prank?"

"How would this be a prank?" I asked. "If this is a prank I might just have to thank the pranksters behind it, because that bed looks _nice_. But just in case." I closed my eyes.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I cast my senses out searching for anything out of place but found nothing. The bed only had the standard charms one would expect a bed to have, cushioning, quieting and an alarm spell. Even Hermione's trunk lacked the listening charm I'd sensed on it yesterday. I was about to stop when I noticed something odd, a weirdly stretched feeling combined with that sixth sense that lets you know something was near you without looking. It reminded me of nothing so much as the entrance to Platform 9 ¾.

I opened my eyes and frowned.

Wolf, can you check and see if you can smell anyone?

"_Of course_," Wolf said.

What happened next doesn't quite translate into English correctly but, for lack of a better way to put it, I took a mental step back and Wolf edged closer to the surface. I was still in control but Wolf had stepped into the metaphorical copilot's seat, allowing us to use her superior senses.

Most wizards, having only human level senses, wouldn't think to obscure their smell. Even those who would think to do so probably wouldn't unless they knew they were dealing with another member of the supernatural community, but given that no one but my family and the Jensens knew what I could do, I should be able to smell if someone else had been in our room.

I, Wolf and I, breathed deeply. We parceled through the scents quickly, looking for something that didn't belong. The only thing that stood out though was Pansy's sent. That in and of itself wasn't odd, she had spent a lot of time here last semester, but her sent was too fresh almost as if she were still here.

Wolf and I abruptly separated, no longer able to maintain shared control of our body.

"Curious," I focused on my sleeve. "Meter stick." The strip of wood slid into my hand as I moved towards the portal. It, like platform 9 ¾, looked like a completely normal wall.

"Alex, why do you have that in your hand? For that matter where did it come from?" Hermione asked.

"In reverse order, from my enchanted Mokeskin sleeves, and I have it so I can poke the portal with a stick," I hadn't realized until now that poking unfamiliar portals with sticks was on my bucket-list. Learn something new every day I suppose.

With that thought in mind, I reared back and proceeded to trust the meter stick into the portal as if I were trying to stab it through the heart.

############################################################

**AN**: So in an effort to increase review/comment count I've come up a few questions that I'd like my wonderful audience to answer.

Who is your favorite character, and why?

If you were a random Hogwarts student and you had to kill/destroy Alex Potter how would you go about doing so?

Is there anything specific you are looking forward to this year/further in the story?


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34:**

**Flitwick Feels Inspirational**

_Narcissa Malfoy_

_Midsummer_

The Malfoy ancestral home, _Ombres Reste_, was a place of splendor. The walls, raised by Beaumont Malfoy and his family, unmarred by age or war stood as a testament to the skill and potency of the family's magic and their taste in décor. Even the Summoning Room, stark in comparison to the rest of the manor and clearly designed with efficiency in mind, had an undeniable elegance to it.

Most practitioners made due with one to three circles when summoning denizens of the Nevernever. After all, three carefully constructed circles would suffice to hold anything short of a god—and what fool tries to bind a god?—anything more than three and you would need a ley line to power them.

The Summoning Room has over forty concentric circles. _Ombres Reste _was built on top of a ley line and even with that powering all the room's circles was a feat that could not be managed for more than a few minutes.

Usually, three circles were all it to adequately contain a summons. As such the summing Room had three crafted to contain demons, three to contain Fey, three to contain spirits and three more for each of the creatures that the Malfoy family had cause to summon regularly since coming to the British Isles.

Directly above the circles was a runic pentagram that, should the circles fail to contain a summons, would release a stream of energy—roughly equivalent to a hundred lightning bolts at once—at it twin buried below the circles. This bolt of energy would, assuming that whatever had been summoned wasn't already dead, then shoot back towards the upper pentagram where the cycle would begin anew until either the energy ran out or containment failed.

At which point _Ombres Reste_, and much of the surrounding country side, would cease to exist.

"Don't call up what you can't put down, _indeed_," I said, amusement coloring my voice.

"That is the Malfoy family motto, you know," Lucius said, leaning against the wall not ten steps behind me. I turned to face him a faint frown tugging on my lips.

"Really dear? That's not what you said when you asked me to marry you."

"Oh, and just what did I say?" He asked pushing off the wall as he started towards me.

"Sanctimonia Vincet Semper," I said, stepping just out of reach as he neared me. "_Purity Will Always Conquer_."

"Words meant only to put the Black Princess at ease, I assure you," Lucius said stepping towards me even as I stepped back. "I believe your words suit us better."

"_Really_?" My lips tugged upwards before I could stop them.

"Oh yes," This time when he stepped forward I did not step away. Lucius pulled me close, his lips finding their way to my neck. "Who do we support for Minister," He trailed kisses up my neck, towards my ear. "If not a fool we can destroy?" His teeth grazed my ear and I arched into him, pressing as close as possible. "Whose loyalty should we seek, if not those who will remain in our power?"

We kissed, my hands tangled in his hair and his trailed down my back, teasing and caressing as they went. We stayed entwined until the need for air forced us to part.

"Ready to get to work?" Lucius asked, merriment dancing in his eyes. My left eye twitched and my face mouth turned into a frown in truth even as his curved into a smile.

"I told you about starting things Lucius, either finish them or be prepared for the consequences."

"I shall be more than happy to face them once our work is done," He said, stepping away. "If we are to deal with your sister, it is best we do so now. _Before_ she decides to storm the manor."

I sighed and nodded. "Of course." Bellatrix attacking the manor was terrifying thought on its own. Bellatrix attacking while Draco and Pansy were in residence, was unconscionable.

"As always, I will be here if you need me," Lucius faded from view, not even leaving the tale-tell distortion of disillusionment.

I made my way over to the wooden chair I'd had brought in for the occasion and frowned. "Dobby, replace this with my receiving chair." Between on second and the next, the chair was exchanged with one that was much more comfortable and regal. I sat in it and, after making sure everything was in place, placed my wand on the run that would call the portkey I had sent my sister. It flashed once, twice and three times before activating.

With a snap of displaced air Bellatrix appeared inside the circles her hair almost Weasley-red but her other features were just as I remembered. As I sat taking in her appearance, and before she could so much as breathe, Lucius activated the circles.

All of them.

Bellatrix's lips drew back in a snarl and she speared me with a glare. I met her gaze calmly, my face a mask of neutrality.

"How dare you!" Bellatrix said.

"Sister," I said. "If you would like to take a seat?" I nodded to the chair behind her.

"I am a guest in your home!" Bellatrix snapped. "By what right do you restrain me?"

"Restrain? Dear sister, merely say the word and I will send back from where you came," I said.

"Have you forgotten Mothers lessons? Or has your time married to Lucius merely rotted your brain?" Bellatrix asked as she stalked back and forth, probing the edges of the first circle. The chances of her breaking the first circle were small, it was crafted to contain wizards of even greater power than her.

"You are a guest Bellatrix, mind your manners," I said.

"A guest?" Her gaze rested meaningfully on the circles. "Truly you are _most_ hospitable, dear Sister."

"You have the audacity to question my hospitality?" I demanded. "The last time you were here you consigned Lucius's father to death!"

"He refused to embrace the Dark Lord! He refused to turn away from his _precious god_!" Bellatrix spat. "Dead god. False god. That old sea spirit hadn't answered a prayer since before the Malfoys came to Britain!"

"Abraxas was a sworn priest of Cichol," I said, the urge to simply activate the pentagram and be done with this farce was steadily rising. "A commitment like that cannot be broken, no matter who asks."

"If his god was so powerful he could have stopped the curse," Bellatrix smiled coyly. "My Lord would have. My Lord _did_."

"The Dark Lord did what?" I asked.

"He made me immortal," Bellatrix crooned, swaying in place. "He reached past the barriers of life and death and made me as onto a _god_. Those light hearted fools thought they killed me. Ignorant fools. Blasphemers. They couldn't kill me." Her gaze turned towards the pentagram above her. "You can't kill me." Her eyes found mine. "My faith protects me."

I felt my heart stutter and my breath caught in my throat, but I did not allow that to show on my face as I contemplated her words.

I hadn't been surprised to learn that Bellatrix was still alive. For all that the Ministry touted her death in the papers, it wasn't that hard to fake your death. Even with the kind of scrutiny that her supposed corps had been under, the spells that it would have been subjected to, to be sure of her identity, could be fooled. If she lacked basic dignity and all moral fiber.

A babe, grown in her womb.

A Polyjuice potion and the _imperious_ curse.

That would be all she needed to fool everybody. The young women I remembered form Hogwarts wouldn't have done it, could not have done it.

The women—if such a word could be used to describe her anymore—who stood before me now? The Dark Lords favored? Every inch the monster our mother made her? She could have done so and would have done so happily.

But if she had not done that, if she had actually died and found her way beack, and if she were actually telling the truth, than that changed everything.

"I see," I said. "If that's the case than why has the Dark Lord not returned?"

"He has been busy, but now the time has come for him to return," Bellatrix frowned. "Now where is the book?"

This was my chance, either I gave her what she wanted or I activated the pentagram and hoped that whatever spell bound her to life failed.

In the end, it wasn't really a choice.

I motioned behind her. "On the chair." Giving her the book would either change nothing or it would make the newly resurrected Dark Lord look upon us favorably.

And a Dark Lord, further along in his ambitions than anyone had dared hope, could be just the patron to see the Malfoy family through this new millennium.

Bellatrix turned, picked up the book and cradled it to her chest. "With this, I shall _have_ my Lord." She swayed in place for a moment before turning to face me. "It's time I left, things to do and people to collect."

I nodded.

"Goodbye sister," I said. I touched my wand to the run and a moment later the circles powered down and Bellatrix disappeared.

"That was informative," Lucius said, placing his hand on my shoulder as he faded into view next to me.

"And worrying," I reached up and got a firm grip on his hand before giving it a yank. The yank came at an odd angle, lacking the force to actually move him but he fell obligingly to his knees. I hooked my leg behind his head, thankful yet again for the flexibility of enchanted dress wear. "But that is for another time. For now, you have work to do."

Lucius smiled.

**888**

_Alex_

So, _apparently_, stabbing unfamiliar portals with sticks is a bad idea. Not because of any property of portals or sticks, no there was nothing wrong with them. Rather the danger comes when one doesn't know what's on the other side of the portal, or more specifically how close whatever's on the other side of the portal _is_.

"I'm going to get you, Potter!" Pansy screeched, one eye firmly clinched shut and the other glaring at me with promises of fiery death. Apparently Pansy had been examining the portal from her end and when my meter stick came through it managed to score a direct hit.

"Sorry!" I said as I cowered behind Hermione.

Pansy growled.

_Actually growled_.

I eeped and, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, pushed Hermione at Pansy with a battle cry of, "_Protect me, Squire_!" and made for the door.

I dodged around Pansy, her arms full with my meter stick and Hermione, my legs pumping and my arms outstretched, I just brushed the door's handle with my fingertips when something slithered around my ankles stopping my legs cold. It did not stop my momentum, though, my feet may have stopped but the rest of my body kept going forward right into the floor.

I managed to get my arms out in front of me and arrest my fall but even as I did so I felt the thing gripping me crawl up my body restrain my arms. My arms and legs confined, my fingers splayed, I was raised upright and turned to face my captors.

"_Lapidem Vineam_," I said identifying the spell holding me prisoner. Loosely translated it meant _stone vine_, but a more accurate description of its effects would be _stone tentacle_. The spell, as you may have surmised, created a stone tentacle where ever the caster wanted that would, if not kept under control, attack whatever was nearby. It was a fourth year spell, not because of the power required to cast it, but because of how difficult it was to control. It was also the spell that won Hermione her duel with the level three training dummy last year. "Nice casting!"

"Thank you," Hermione said calmly, her wand pointed directly at me a look of concentration on her features. "As sorry as I am to interrupt you running away…"

"_Strategic repositioning_," I interrupted.

"…because you were doing so well…"

"Thank you!" I said.

"…but perhaps we can focus on what happened to our rooms?" Hermione finished, looking between Pansy and me.

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"Alright," Pansy said, eyeing me with a smirk. "As long as you keep her restrained. We wouldn't want any more accidents, would we?"

"Hey—what, I said I was sorry!" I said.

"And I believe you, really I do," Pansy said, her smirk widening. "But now we have to focus on the matter at hand, and you seem to have too much energy to focus."

"You were the one chasing me!" I cried indignantly, doing my best to ignore the snickers coming from the back of my mind. "I was just testing the safety of the portal, you're the one who jumped through it and started all of this!"

"Tut-tut Potter, take responsibility for your action," Pansy said. I was about to respond when Hermione interjected.

"Alright, that's enough!" Hermione glared at the two of us. "We have class in less than an hour, and if we want enough time to eat and get our schedule's form Professor Flitwick than we need to _focus_."

"But…" I tried.

"If I miss the first class of the year because of the two of you, I swear I will transfigure the both of you into the wall!" Hermione said. She wasn't quite frothing with rage but it was a near thing. "_Understand_?"

"Right!" I nodded. In the back of my mind, Wolf gave an approving growl and Dragon, the lazy git, was still asleep.

"Understood," Pansy said giving Hermione a concerned look. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Well, there are only two people who could authorize, this," Hermione gestured at the room, moving her wand in the process. Which also caused the tentacle, and therefore me, to follow the wand's movement. "Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. No one else could make a portal between Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

"But?" Pansy prompted.

"But why would they do it? And even if they had a reason to do it, why wouldn't they tell us?" Hermione asked, waving her hands expressively. The tentacle's movements were starting to make me nauseas.

Pansy's attention was focused on Hermione but her open eye glinted malevolently. "We did leave the feast fairly quickly last night."

"I'll probably be meeting with Dumbledore, today or sometime this week," I said before they could continue. "If he or Professor McGonagall are the ones who did it he'll probably say something then."

Hermione let me go and after she and Pansy grabbed their things, my class things were safely ensconced up my sleeves, we made our way to breakfast.

**888**

The Great Hall was mostly empty by the time we got there most of the students and all of the Professors having already left for class. Thankfully there were stacks of schedules at the end of each table. After a quick breakfast, Pansy went off to Transfiguration while Hermione and I shuffled off to Charms.

In spite of our late start Hermione and I made it to Professor Flitwick's class just in time. In fact, as we rounded the last corner on towards the classroom, a large group of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws came out of a stairwell that I had never seen. That in and of itself wasn't odd, what was odd was the fact that the stairwell opened on the outer wall and, past the wall, there was only air. That and the fact that the students were coming down the stairs—the Great Hall was a few floors below the Charms classroom—instead of up caused Hermione and me to trade looks.

Looks were the only thing we had time to trade because as class started right away, Professor Flitwick opened with a review of last year's material before having the class cast all the first year charms.

"Great spell work requires you to master the basics," Professor Flitwick said. "Merlin, Morgana, the Founders, unarguably the greatest witches and wizards to have ever lived. None of them started great, they became great through hard work and study." He looked around the class with the eyes of a master duelist. "Will you follow in their footsteps?"

Hermione and I were the first to finish our assigned work. Each of us received a point for Ravenclaw before Professor Flitwick had us go around and help those having the most trouble. By dint of getting to them faster, I got to help my house mates while Hermione had to help the Hufflepuffs.

Almost before I knew it class was over and Hermione and I went to our table to gather our things. Before we'd even reached the table the rest of the class were up and out of the room.

"They're in a rush," I said as I caped my ink well and stuck it in my book bag. Just because I could stuff my school things up my sleeves and save myself the hassle of carrying the around didn't mean I should. For one thing lugging my textbooks around was a decent workout and secondly the fewer people that knew I had an ace—among other things—up my sleeve the better.

"They probably just want to get to Professor Lockhart's class," Hermione said shouldering her book bag. I winced, how Hermione could carry that thing around all day was beyond me. I had trouble even lifting it, if I wanted to actually carry it around I'd need to draw on Wolf for strength. "Which is what we need to be doing if we want good seats. Most of them will be filled up with the Gryffindor and Slytherins, they just had to walk down the hall from Professor McGonagall's classroom."

As we left I noticed that the stairwell from earlier was gone and in its place rested simple stonework. I shook my head, "That's crazy."

"It's all the extra power Hogwarts is drawing from the ley lines. Most of it is going towards the wards but there's a lot of bleed off, and that energy has to be put to use, otherwise the magic will find a way to express itself." Hermione said with a faint frown.

"And that's bad?" I asked as we made our way downstairs.

"_Very_," Hermione said. "About five hundred years ago—five hundred twenty seven to be precise—during the fourth goblin war, the Headmaster of the time activated the siege wards but got tired of the constantly shifting architecture and commanded Hogwarts to stop. The first few days were fine, there were a few hallways where you would be heavier than usual and some where you had to swim through the air. One room got so big you could taste grapes."

"So big you could taste grapes?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Hermione shook her head. "But that's how _Hogwarts: A History_ described it."

"I don't remember that," I said. I'd read most of _Hogwarts: A History_ and skimmed the rest but what Hermione was describing didn't sound even vaguely familiar.

"You've only read the edition from Flourish and Blotts. Bathilda Bagshot had to cut a lot from the original manuscript before the Ministry would let her publish." Hermione shook her head. "Anyway, the magic kept expressing itself until, on the third day while the school was having breakfast, the air turned into poison and everyone in the Great Hall dropped dead."

"That's," I paused unable to find a word that adequately described my feelings.

"Horrible," Hermione said.

"Yeah," I said.

The rest of our walk to Defense was made in silence.

**888**

The new Defense classroom reminded me of a college lecture hall. Two rows of desks on either side of the downward sloping isle. On the walls, set at even intervals, hexagonal stones with some kind of crest or rune on them, that could have been decorative but I was willing to bet weren't. It was also filled to the brim with second years. As far as I could tell we were the last to arrive.

Well the last students at least, Professor Lockhart hadn't arrived yet either.

"Look at this! I knew we should have walked faster," Hermione said, looking around the room. Thankfully before she could give into despair at having to sit at the back of the class we noticed Pansy waving at us from the front row. We made our way down and took our seats on either side of Pansy. We had just managed to set out our things when Professor Lockhart entered through a side door at the front of the room.

He paused in the doorway to gaze around the classroom, an odd look on his face. He stood there for almost a full minute without anyone noticing him, just looking around the room until his eyes meet mine, he paused, blinked before a slow smile spread across his face. He nodded at me before making his way towards the center of the floor.

"Good morning class," Professor Lockhart said, his confident voice coming from all around the room. "Who's ready for Defense?" He smirked. "Or as I like to call it, 'How not to die'."

AN: So it's been about a month since my last up date. The reason for that is college. But, good news, I'm almost done for the semester! Which means that my writing time will increase.

Anyway on to questions!

What is your favorite fight scene in New Day, New life? And why?

Which character do you want to die? From Dresden or Harry Potter or here.

What do you think is up with Lockhart?


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35:**

**How Not To Die**

I don't know if it was his tone, his blatant smirk or my innate distrust of Defense Professors, but I was out of my seat, gripping my friend's arms and heading up the aisle before Professor Lockhart had finished speaking.

"Potter, what are you doing?" Macmillan demanded, standing from his seat and putting his fists on the table. Presumably to make himself look intimidating, all it did was keep him from getting to his wand when the attack began.

Screams rang out across the room as shapes feel from the ceiling and began attacking. I let go of my friends and twitched my arm, breathing just a little easier as my wand fell into my hand. Something landed in front of me and it was only because of my spars with the Jensens, getting used to fighting people with faster than human reaction times, that I managed to duck back before what looked, for all the world, like a _zombie_, could get a grip on me.

Even as I stepped back my wand rose.

Contrary to popular fiction, zombies are not shambling corpses that can be defeated by a well-placed rake. Depending on the age of the body used a zombie could chew its way through a steel door and give a Mountain Troll a run for its money in the strength department.

"_Bombarda Maxima_!" I shouted, aiming for center mass. Sure enough, the spell hit and the walking abomination's torso burst apart and its limbs went flying. I paused to catch my breath, as much power as I'd put into the spell I needed it, and glanced behind me to see how Pansy and Hermione were doing.

Despite me yanking her from her seat, and the suddenness of the attack, Hermione hadn't frozen. Her wand was out and a stone tentacle was wrapped around one of the zombies and she was using it to bludgeon another zombie. Pansy's focus seemed split between Hermione's situation and Professor Lockhart, who was watching the classroom with a look of detached interest.

Before I could say anything Pansy caught my eye.

"On three we finish off Hermione's opponents and then we make for the door." Pansy said. I nodded "One two, three!"

"_Bombarda Maxima_!" We cried as one. Our spells struck true, the zombies came apart. I stumbled, drained. I had power to spar compared to the average second year. Hell, I had power to spare compared to the average fourth year but Bombarda Maxima took a lot of power.

Pansy steadied me before I could fall, "You okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Thanks."

"Shouldn't we be getting out of here?" Hermione asked, eyes darting around, a frown etched firmly in place. Before I could respond Hermione's eyes widened and her wand snapped up. "_Lapidem Vineam_."

I whirled around, wand up and a spell on my lips, only find a zombie being crushed to death—re-death?—by Hermione's favorite spell. I blinked, uncomfortably reminded that I had been similarly restrained just a few hours earlier. When the zombie's chest caved in I turned away.

I forced myself to look back.

Something wasn't right. As easily as the zombies were dropping they couldn't have been very old, a decade at most. So shouldn't there still be blood? Or organs? Or anything other than bones and withered skin?

The insides of the crushed zombie in front of me were wrong. There were things that looked like organs but on closer inspection blatantly weren't. I frowned, come to think of it…

"Where's the music?" I said, looking around. The not-zombies were still attacking the other second years but they weren't doing any damage. They were herding the students, keeping them pinned, but falling short of actually hurting them.

"This is hardly the time to be talking about music!" Hermione said, finally ending her spell. The not-zombie dropped to the floor in a mess of jutting bones and awkward angles.

"I mean, where's the music that's controlling the zombies?" I said.

"Inferi," Pansy corrected absently, as she kept a look out.

"Semantics," I said. "To control zombies you need music, you need a beat. It takes the place of the zombie's heart beat and makes it think that the necromancer's thoughts are its own. Without it they would just do whatever they wanted. And since _everyone else is still alive_, I ask again. Where is the music?"

The room was suddenly filled with the sound of slow and steady clapping. The tree of us turned as one to look at Professor Lockhart. As the clapping continued the screams came to a stop as the rest of the class slowly started to calm down.

"Well reasoned Miss Potter, well-reasoned indeed," Professor Lockhart said, his voice once more filling the room, with what looked like genuine pleasure on his face. "I must say, I am impressed with you three. The sixth years were in here just before you and they did not perform half as well. Twenty points to each of you and another ten to Miss Potter for figuring out the secret to my little test."

He looked around the room.

"Golems, return to storage." As one the golems began making their way to Professor Lockhart's office. "Everyone please return to your seats. I know you've just been given a scare, but I assure you that it's going to be alright."

It took some coaxing, but everyone got back to their seats and slowly managed to return to something resembling calm. Though even without looking I knew that most of the class kept looking from Professor Lockhart to the ceiling and back.

"Alright, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what that was all about." The force of the stares became a physical thing. "But, how about we see if anyone can guess the point of this," Professor Lockhart paused for a moment, "let's call it a demonstration." He looked around the room. "Would anyone care to venture a guess?" For a long moment no one moved or said anything, but slowly hands started rising. "Mr. Finnigan."

"To see," Seamus started hesitantly only to stop when his voice came from around the room as well. Professor Lockhart nodded at him encouragingly. "To see if we know how to fight Inferi."

"That is a good guess," Professor Lockhart smiled hugely. "Are there any others?"

"To see what we know about defense," Draco said, without waiting to be called on.

Before anyone else could say something I raised my hand.

"Yes, Miss Potter," Professor Lockhart said, his eyebrow raised inquiringly.

"You wanted to see how we reacted to an unexpected attack," I said, looking him right in the eye. "All the defense knowledge in the world doesn't help if we can't respond in time to use it."

"Exactly!" Professor Lockhart said passionately. "One of the most famous, or perhaps I should say infamous, Aurors Alastor Moody, espouses a philosophy of 'constant vigilance'. To always be ready, to always expect an attack and it is _easy_ to see why he thinks this is necessary. We live in a dangerous world!" He slashed his hands for emphasis. "Our enemies are faster than us, stronger than us, and in more than a few cases they are smarter than us. But, does that mean that we are defenseless? That we can't hope to stand up as equals?" He looked out taking in the captivated faces of his audience, his voice steadily rising to a fever pitch. "No! Witches and Wizards have a long history of showing the world that we are not to be trifled with!"

I don't know who started it but the entire class shot to their feet and started applauding. Say what you will about Professor Lockhart—and as the year wound on there was a lot to say—but damn could he work a crowd.

"But," He said softly, once the applause died down. "But, it does mean that we need to respond quickly to changing circumstances. It means that we need to expect the unexpected and react without hesitation." He paused a moment to let that sink in. "Some of you may be wondering why I gave Miss Potter, Miss Granger and Miss Parkinson points, when they weren't the only ones who manage to fight back. They weren't even the only ones to destroy some golems, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Perks, good job.

"No, I gave them points because they were the only ones who reacted right away,without hesitation. Miss Potter was out of her seat before I even finished speaking!" Professor Lockhart said. "And as a former adventure I can tell you, that is the kind of reaction time you need to survive!" He leaned forward, eyes moving from enraptured face to enraptured face, a faint smile tugging at his lips. His voice once more moving towards a calm cajoling tenor. "Who's ready to learn?"

**888**

I admit I expected an uptick in interest after our little demonstration in Defense, but the form that interest took surprised me. Instead of excited whispers and energetic greetings we got sidelong glances and critical looks. It started with the second years but by the time we were sitting down for dinner the whole school was in on it.

We hadn't been sitting down for long when Professor Dumbledore came and escorted the three of us to his office. The trip was made in silence with Hermione Pansy and I exchanging worried glances. Thankfully the shifting architecture proved no challenge and we made it to the Headmaster's office in no time at all.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I've asked the three of you to my office," Professor Dumbledore said as we all found our seats. No one spoke for a moment, Dumbledore simply looked at us expectantly, while Pansy and Hermione seemed unable to form sentences.

I rolled my eyes internally, honestly it was just Dumbledore.

"If I had to guess I'd say it had to do with Defense class today," I said tapping my lip thoughtfully. "That or you've decided to give us your stash of candy. If that's the case, then yes I accept. But I must insist on taking all of Pansy and Hermione's share as they seem unable to open their mouths at the moment."

"Alex!" Hermione said just as Pansy said. "Potter!"

I smirked.

Dumbledore chuckled and pushed forward a dish of hard candies. I helped myself to some as he started speaking.

"Yes, that is part of the reason we're here. Though I admit it's not the main reason," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Oh?" I mumbled around three pieces of candy. _Mmm Lemony_!

"Miss Potter, have you been practising Necromancy?" Professor Dumbledore asked gravely. The candies suddenly found themselves lodged in my throat.

"W-what?" I coughed, eyes wide.

"Have you been practicing Necromancy?" Professor Dumbledore asked, his eyes boring into mine.

"No!" I said, finally managing to swallow the candies. "Why would you...oh is that why everyone is looking at us like that?" Necromancy was an odd grey area when it came to Ministry law and Wizarding customs. With the White Council as long as you didn't raise a human you were _technically_ within the law. The Ministry laws on Necromancy were even more lax than that. As far as they were concerned as long as you didn't raise a wizard or attack someone with an undead horror, the Ministry would leave you be. Culturally though Wizarding Britain found Necromancy distasteful at best abhorrent at worst.

Personally, even though it was legal, the thought of actually raising a zombie sent a shiver of disgust up and down my spine. My first exposure to zombies came in the form of a movie in my last life. A movie that at the tender age of five, I was far too young to be watching. Ever since then zombies have held a special place of _Hell No_ in my heart.

Professor Dumbledore studied me for a long moment before smiling, "It gladdens my heart to hear your say that. Still, I must ask, why do you know so much about Necromancy in the first place? It's not exactly something the average student, or even the average Ravenclaw, researches."

"After what happened last year I thought it would be a good idea to look into what the Dark Lord could do," I shrugged. "Afterall knowing what he might do is the first step towards protecting myself from it." That and horcruxes had to be Necromantic in origin. Soul Jars were and they had striking similarities to horcruxes despite their obvious differences.

"Of course," Dumbledore smiled sadly before shaking his head. "Well then, next subject. I trust that if the three of you pick up your after class activities again, you will insure your grades stay on par?" That, it seemed, was enough to jolt Hermione into actually saying something.

"Of course! Class work is important, I would never let my grades slip!" Hermione said. Pansy and I simply nodded.

"Good!Good!" Dumbledore said. "It's always nice to hear such dedication from students. It often feels like less and less people take their education seriously." He sighed. "But look at me ramble on, I'm sure you have things to do. Miss Parkinson, Miss Granger if you could wait in the hallway for a moment? I have something to discuss with Miss Potter."

As they made their way out Pansy gave my shoulder a squeeze and Hermione smiled reassuringly.

"Ms. Maliwan does good work," Dumbledore commented. I blinked at him in confusion. He smiled."Your new robes Miss Potter."

"Ah, yeah," I said. "Cost an absurd amount, but I think they're worth it." Seriously, the Maliwan family may well make the best defense robes but their prices were exorbitant.

"Expensive yes, but with Bellatrix Lestrange after you I can't say they aren't a good idea." Professor Dumbledore sighed and looked me straight in the eye. "Miss Potter, Bellatrix is a dangerous woman and your success in escaping her this summer aside, it would be foolish in the extreme for you to seek her out."

"Believe me sir, I have no intention of going anywhere near her ever again," I said with utmost sincerity. Not that I expected that to stop her from getting to me. I was the freaking Chosen One, fate would conspire to bring us together, but that didn't mean I planned to go looking for her. Honestly who did he think I was, a Gryffindor? "Last time was bad enough."

"Good," He nodded. "Now, I've spoken with your Aunt and Mrs. Jensen and we've all agreed that your appointments with the Pack Therapist should continue so I will provide you with a Portkey that will take you to and from the Jensens' house every other weekend starting next Saturday."

I twitched. More therapy, _joy_.

After the kidnapping this summer and worse the video of the my escape, Aunt Petunia and Mrs. Jensen had both decided that I needed professional help. I hadn't been to worried at first, trained therapists that were actually aware of the supernatural had to be rare. So actually getting one to me or vise versa would be difficult, right?

Sadly, I was mistaken and my therapy started within a week.

**888**

_Dumbledore_

People are complicated. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, this fact holds true. The face people present to others are often times simple, but their actual selves are rarely easily categorized. Students, for example, often present a particular version of themselves when dealing with Professors. Or Headmasters for that matter.

"Miss Potter?" I asked, as the silence dragged on. "Are you alright?" I was aware of the mask Alex wore when she spoke to me. From simple observation I knew it was different from the mask she donned when conversing with other Professors. Though it bore a startling resemblance to her dealings with Professor Quirrell.

"Fine," Alex said, her face a show of polite interest. "Thanks for asking."

When dealing with people you had to account for their masks. You learned to recognize them. You studied their interactions with others to determine their true selves. You account for their masks and you learned to work around them. That is, I believe, one of the secrets to truly succeeding in life.

What you didn't do was accept the masks as truth.

"Talking about your experiences can be hard, but I have found that it can help." I said softly.

Alex's eyes narrowed almost to slits before she remembered that she was trying to be polite. "Oh? Have you ever had therapy?"

"Yes," I smiled at her surprised look. "Give your comments at dinner last night. I'm sure you are aware of the roll I played in the downfall of Grindelwald?" I waited for her to nod before steeling myself to continu. "Those were the hardest years of my life. My contribution to the war did not start with the duel with Grindelwald, but it did end there."

My mind flashed back to the look on Gellert's face as I raised my wand for one last spell. A look of betrayal and heartbreak and most horrifying of all, love.

"Professor?" Alex asked, snapping me back to the present.

"My apologies," I had to clear my throat before continuing. "After our fight I found it necessary to seek help. It was not an easy process but I did find it helpful." Alex looked towards the floor, eyes scrunched up in concentration. I kept silent for a moment, giving her a chance to think.

After a long moment she raised her head.

"Thank you for sharing that with me, it's couldn't have been easy." Alex said, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I just hope it helps," I retrieved the new Portkey from my desk and floated it towards Alex. "This Portkey will take you directly to the Jensens' estate and back."

"Yes sir," Alex said as she tucked the hair scrunchy up her sleeve.

"Well, I've kept you long enough," I said.

"Have a good night sir," Alex said as she made her way out.

"You to Miss Potter," I said.

**888**

_Dumbledore_

I slumped back into my chair and closed my eyes. Relief and sadness coursed through me with near equal measure. Gellerts face appeared before me once more only to be banished by the chiding trill of a Phoenix's call. I opened my eyes in time to see Fawkes land in front of me and loosed an admonishing caw.

"You disapprove?"

Fawkes nodded.

"I suppose you're right, sharing that story with a child have been the wrong thing to do but, despite my best efforts, I would be hard pressed to call Alex a child." The last year seemed to have undone all the effort I went to in insuring that she got to have a childhood. She was far too mature for her age, but then having gone through what she did, who wouldn't be? "Besides she seemed to take it well enough."

Fawkes trilled admonishingly.

"Ah, so it's not my telling her the story, but my telling the story at all that you disapprove of. Is that it?" Despite all our years together divining the exact meaning of Fawkes' intent could still be challenging. At Fawkes' nod I smiled and continued. "What is an old man's pain if it helps ensure a child's happiness?"

Just as importantly, what is an old man's pain if it stops her from turning to a dark path? Necromancy was an abomination. A violation of life and all to often the tool of choice for aspiring Dark Lords. It was the path that Tom walked. It was path that Gellert walked. It could not be the path that Alex walked.

At least, not yet.

Fawkes whapped me on the head.

At other times Fawkes' intent was rather clear.

I sighed and gave Fawkes one last pat before going to bed. It had been a long day in a series of long days that was promising to be a very long year.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As always questions and comments are welcome! Anyway on to my questions.

Not many people mentioned the Malfoy-Bellatrix scene last chapter so I'm wondering what you thought about it? Was Bellatrix to crazy? To sane? Just right? Were the Malfoys steamy or just creepy?

For those of you who have read the summer chapters in one go, how do they flow? Do they drag? I know that my updates at the time were slow and small which is why I'm specifically asking those who read them in one go.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

**See, The Thing Is...**

The first week of school passed without incident. I went to class, trained with Pansy and Hermione, and resumed Saturday study sessions with the other Ravenclaw second years. Even the side long glances and whispered conversations stopped. It was nicely normal and, aside from my approaching therapy session, I had no real complaints.

Classes themselves were progressing much as I expected they would. Moving on to more complicated spells, building upon what they taught us last year. The only class that differed from my expectations was Defense. Last year it was primarily a lecture based class. Professor Lockhart's approach to Defense was much more practical.

"Alright class," Professor Lockhart said from his usual position at the front of the classroom. "As you know reacting in time to deal with a threat is the single most important part of defending yourself, but that's not all there is to it. Surviving requires at least _some_ actual combat ability. As students, in the event you are ever attacked, your focus should be to fight only long enough to get away_._"

"You want us to run away?" Dean Thomas, distaste coloring his tone.

"Mr. Thomas, do you imagine that it is in someway honorable to fall in battle?" Professor Lockhart asked.

"No!" Dean said.

"Then why are you in such a hurry to die?" Professor Lockhart asked.

"I wouldn't die! I'd fight! Like a real Gryffindor, not run like a coward," Dean snapped.

I pinched my nose, Lord save me from preteen macho idiocy.

Professor Lockhart expression could loosely be described as a smile. If you weren't familiar with what an animal bearing its teeth looked like. "It seems we have our first volunteer for today's lesson!" Professor Lockhart studied the room for a moment. "Mr. Thomas, Ms. Granger, would you please come down?"

I cringed, this was not going to end well.

Dean and Hermione made their way to the front of the room and stood facing each other.

Professor Lockhart waved his wand and a large red circle appeared around them. "After I say start, the two of you will duel and the first one to either leave the circle or become unable to fight loses. Understand?" He smiled at their nods before focusing on Hermione. "And Ms. Granger, if he's not out in under ten seconds the highest grade you will make in my class is an Acceptable." Professor Lockhart smiled. "Start!" If she had been given more time to think, more time to process, Hermione probably would have reacted with a little more restraint.

As it was, well, thank god for cushioning charms.

Hermione's wand snapped up and, with all the rage and fear of a mother bear protecting her cubs, screamed. "_Depulso!"_Dean's eye's barely had time to widen before the force of Hermione's spell sent him careening out of the circle and into the wall.

"Good job Ms. Granger, a little more enthusiastic than I expected but good work none the less," Professor Lockhart smiled, a genuine looking smile this time, before motioning Hermione's towards her seat. His focus turned to Dean who was sitting at the wall looking at Hermione with wide eyes. "Mr. Thomas, how are you feeling? I set the cushioning charms myself but if you need to see the nurse please, speak up."

Dean's wide eyed gaze snapped to Professor Lockhart.

"Mr. Thomas?" Professor Lockhart asked.

"N-no I'm fine," Dean said.

"Then please, return to your seat," Professor Lockhart said, before turning towards the class. "Legend holds that fighting towards the last, that throwing your life away in a sad attempt to _spite_ a superior opponent is, somehow, honorable. This," He glared around the room, "_is_ _the height of stupidity_. There is no reason you should stand and fight someone you can't beat if retreat is an option. Fame, glory, renown, these are the vices of the ignorant. Only fools chase them and they hold no value when compared to your lives." He sighed and pinched his nose. "But we've gotten off topic, today I will be examining your current fighting ability. Ms. Greengrass, Mr. Finnigan please step into the circle."

As they made their way towards the circle I leaned towards Hermione and whispered, "You okay?"

Hermione blushed but nodded, "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Just checking," I shrugged and turned my attention towards the duel.

The duel, and all the ones that came after, followed a similar pattern. Once the duel began the students would open with a either a banishing charm or a disarming charm. With few exceptions they would then proceed to repeat those spells until someone lost. The lack of variety didn't surprise me, second years weren't exactly known for their vast spell repertoire, but the near-complete lack of fighting skill did.

Now I know what you're thinking, _Alex they're kids of course they don't know how to fight_, and you have a point. But, god, if you could have seen them you'd understand. It wasn't just the lack of skill, it was the way they kept trying the same thing over and over again. Even if their chosen spell didn't work they just kept repeating it until they simply couldn't cast anymore.

I was fairly sure that Professor Lockhart was going to be a threat. I didn't know what form that threat would take or when it would appear but I was confident he would become a threat.

That said, if he could actually get my yearmates to fight competently _before_ he tried to kill me, I consider it an even trade.

Though the look on Sally-Anne's face when Pansy sent her spiraling out of the dueling circle was a good down payment as far as trades go.

**888**

Before I knew it another week had passed and I was sitting on a couch across from my therapist.

"I understand you've gone back to Hogwarts," Ms. Yamada said in a tone that wasn't quite a question but wasn't a statement either.

"Yes Ma'am," I said, idly kicking my feet. I'd worn slippers today in anticipation of tonight's hunt and if I kicked just right they made a satisfying _thunk_-sound.

"And how are you adjusting?" Ms. Yamada asked writing something down in her notebook.

_Thunk_.

"Fine."

She wrote something else. "Going from a house filled with werewolves to a school full of wizards must have been challenging."

_Thunk-thunk_.

"Not really."

"I'm glad you're adjusting," She wrote some more. "How are your friends doing?"

_Thunk_.

"Good."

She switched pens before writing more. "How did Pansy react to learning you joined the White Cliffs pack?"

_Th-_

My eyes snapped to her's. "I never told you my friend's names."

"No, you didn't," She said agreeably.

"Who did?" I asked, masking my attempt to get my wand as idle scratching. I was fairly sure Ms. Yamada wasn't a physical threat, she was human and what magic she had was less than most first years. Still, no reason to be uncautious.

"Your Aunt," She said, eyes resting briefly on my arms before meeting my eyes. "She's worried about you."

I averted my eyes and eased back in my seat but didn't fully relax until my wand was in my hand. "I know, but I'm _fine_."

"Are you?" Ms. Yamada asked, looking pointedly at my, carefully concealed, wand.

"Yes!" I snapped. "Yes, I'm fine. Yes, what happened to me this summer was horrible. I know that, but it doesn't mean that I'm not dealing with it. It definitely doesn't mean that I need, or want, your help!" I fought a grimace, I hadn't meant to say that. I hadn't meant to say anything.

"Want? Obviously not. Need?" Ms. Yamada sighed. "Miss Potter, Alex, you drew your wand the second I mentioned your friend, when you _know_ I'm not a threat."

I sighed, she was right.

She wasn't a threat and I knew that. She was a guest in the Jensen's home and by extension, a guest of the Morrok. If she breached the hospitality offered to her, if she broke the trust given to her as one of the few certified Pack therapists, she'd be dead before she even knew what hit her. "Sorry, just...I don't want to be here."

Understatement.

I was becoming more british by the day.

"Believe me, I understand," Ms. Yamada smiled. "Why don't we try something different. You pick a topic and we'll talk about that."

"Anything?" I asked.

"Anything," Ms. Yamada nodded.

**888**

I put my therapy session out of my mind as I made my way out of the house and to the edge of the forest surrounding the Jensen's property. Between class and training, I hadn't had a chance to let Wolf loose since school started. Which was why, despite it not being a full moon, Joel and Ellie were waiting for me already transformed.

"_Ready_?" Wolf asked, anticipation dripping from her tone.

"One moment please," I said to her and the waiting wolves. I closed my eyes and fed my robe a steady stream of magic. As I did that I focused on the shape I wanted it to take. I shivered as I felt it transfigure into a black neck band, leaving me exposed to the cool night air. I took a deep breath of air before taking a huge mental step back, ceding control but retaining influence as Wolf stepped into the fore.

I-Wolf breathed as one, our heart's beat never increasing as it grew and expanded. Fur sprouted as our body bent double, fingers shortened even as nails grew into claws. Until finally I-Alex stood, shorter than before but stronger, _faster_.

I threw back my head and howled, Joel and Ellie joined me before we raced into the forest. Eager to start the hunt.

Be it hours or days time means nothing to a wolf. All that matters during the hunt, is the hunt. The feel of the air as it blows through my fur. The scent of moss and bark and life, as it fills your nose. The nearly silent footfalls of my packmates, as we slowly stalk our prey. The blood pounding in my veins when an errant step alerts the deer to our presence sending it bounding away.

We gave chase, Ellie leading the way only because Alex assures me that proving my superiority would only cause us problems we didn't need. Still I must concede that she does an adequate job. Before the deer can get too far Ellie catches up and rakes her claws across its flank.

It bounds away, wounded but still fast. Only for Joel to catch it on its other side. The deer still manages to run, slower but still faster than a human could match. Ellie and Joel's attacks have pointed it in my direction. I charge towards it, saliva pooling in my mouth. It lowers its head, horns pointed straight at me.

I work my legs like pistons, eeking out every last bit of speed I can force myself faster.

Seconds before its horns could tear into my flesh, I jumped to the side letting the deer pass me only for its horns to clip a tree. Not enough to kill it, slowed as it was, but enough to send it to the the ground in a bone breaking spiral. I was on it before it could recover, my teeth sinking into its neck.

A sharp crack echoed through the night and the hunt was finished.

**888**

The smell of mint hung heavy in the air and the sound of enthusiastic gargling filled the bathroom.

"Oh honey, you know there are spells for that, right?" The Bathroom Mirror asked in a voice that veered from 'gay best friend' to 'concerned mother' at the drop of a hat.

"Uh-huh," I gargled, before spitting into the sink. The epitome of Lady like behavior, that's me. "And if I run out of mouthwash, I'll use them. Until then," I poured another shot of neon blue liquid. "I'll use this." I upended the shot into my mouth, a minute later I spit it out. "Trust me, nothing cleanses the palate quite like this." Usually I would just use a hygiene spell, but after last night the burning mouthwash just felt cleaner.

"Salty, huh?"

I thought back, "More Irony than salty, you know?"

"Iron?" The Mirror asked. "You may want to go to the nurse, I don't think that's normal."

"Pretty sure it is," I checked my reflection one last time before heading towards the door. "Later!"

"It really isn't!" The Mirror called out as the door shut.

I'd gotten in so late last night it wrapped around back into early. So instead of trying for a nap and disturbing my friends, I'd simply gone to the restroom and settled in for a nice long _hot_ shower. It wasn't as refreshing as a good night's sleep but it would serve. I could have spent the night at the Jensen's, but I felt more comfortable at Hogwarts than I did most anywhere else.

I made my way back to my room and to my desk. Making sure to keep quiet, Pansy and Hermione were still curled up together on the bed.

I'd spent the last few weeks trying to figure out how, and what, to tell Dresden. The how was fairly easy. I couldn't leave Hogwarts except for my visits to the Jensen's, using their phone was out of the question and getting a burner was an unlikely proposition at best. So that eliminated simply calling him.

Email was the next option I considered but, again, I had no computer accesses and Dresden would fry any he got close to. Which left me with one option.

A letter.

It came with it's own set of dangers but I'd put some thought into how to mitigate them. Instead of parchment I would use notebook paper. Instead of ink and quill I'd use a mechanical pencil. The only problem left was how to get it to him. Snail-mail was far to slow, and to easily tracked for that matter. Owl-post made it obvious that I was a wand user. Thankfully, after a bit of research, I'd found that Post-Owls are very smart and with proper instructions could easily be convinced to avoid detection.

Which just left _actually_ _writing the letter_.

I sighed and got to work.

_Dresden,_

_I am writing because there is information that I should have shared with you the last time I got in contact, but was unable to share, and because new information has come to my attention that I believe warrants your attention._

_Before I continue, I recommend you sit down._

_First and foremost is Maggie. She is your and Miss Rodriguez's child and she's in danger. Red Court Duchess Arianna Ortega plans to use her as the focal point of a bloodline curse that will kill both you and Miss Rodriguez's family lines. The most likely place for this ritual is Chichén Itzá._

_Secondly don't trust Martin. He's a fanatic, willing to do whatever it takes to see the Red Court destroyed. Even if it means revealing the location of your daughter's foster family._

_Hopefully this letter reaches you in time, but if it doesn't and you have to fight to get get her back. It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that, even ignoring the vast number of reserves the Red Court can call on, you could not beat even one Lord of Outer Night, let alone all thirteen and the Red King._

_The reason you cannot beat them is thus. While they are nowhere near the same level of power as a sitting Fay Queen, they were once worshiped as gods. Their sheer presence will, quite literally, bring you to your knees. _

_Of the options available to you to quickly bring you to a level in which you can actually fight them, I can only offer this advice. If you choose to become the Winter Knight know that Mab cannot change who you are. She may compel your body to action but she cannot directly affect your soul. In the words of an janitor you may know "You are a soul, you have a body"._

_Sincerely,_

_Bella_

_P.S. Parasite is dark humor for baby. _

I reread the letter a few times trying to think of something to add or take away before accepting that it was as good as it was going to get. Any more dithering and I'd still be writing it when Dresden's obituary comes out.

**888**

A few hours later, with the letter safely on its way and breakfast out of the way, Hermione, Pansy and I were sitting in The Room with _Occlumency: Defending the Mind_ laid out before us.

"The book is pretty clear Alex if we want to get better at Occlumency we actual practice at defending our minds," Hermione said, pointing at the book. "Which means practicing Legilimency on each other."

"I know. I'm just worried," I said.

"Why?" Hermione asked. "You know we're not going to share anything we learn while practicing, right?"

"Of course, you won't," I waved the thought off. "That's not what worries me." I hesitated, trying to figure out how to word this. "Legilimency is a wandless spell. It's _dangerous_."

Hypocrite, me? Nope.

"So is Occlumency, and you don't have a problem with it," Hermione said.

"Yes, but that's _defending_ the mind. Legilimency is _attacking_ the mind." I said.

"And?" Hermione asked.

I looked towards Pansy for support, but she just looked at me blankly.

"Ok, how do I put this," I said. "When we cast a spell we wave our wands, say some words and spend some magic. Obviously, we pick where the spell hits, and for more complex spells like the stone vine spell you actively control the product, but that's it.

"Wandless magic is different. You have to believe in it. You need to be utterly convinced that you can do it and that you are entitled to do so. When you wandlessly summon a book to you, you have to know you can, and that you deserve it." I looked Hermione dead in the eye. "When you attack someone's mind you have to believe you have a right to violate their thoughts and learn their secrets. 'Thou shalt not violate the Mind of another' it the third law of magic for a reason."

"Oh," Hermione muttered, lowering her eyes.

"On top of that, it's way too easy to break a mind. Let's you go into someone's mind and try and fix something. Maybe they have an addiction to drugs, or they're cutting themselves and you just want to help. So you go in and _tweak_ things so they don't do it anymore. Next thing you know they're in the mental ward, and that's just if it ends well. If it doesn't…" I let my voice trail off, moving my gaze between the two of them.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this? If it's that dangerous," Hermione said, her eyes not quite meeting mine.

"No," I shook my head. "I think we should. If we don't then we can't improve our defenses and I know the Dark Lord is a skilled Legilimens. The last thing we should do is neglect our Occlumency training. Using it to help each other train should be fine. I just want to make sure we go into this knowing the risks and treat it with the respect it deserves."

We didn't make much progress that day. Our mental probes were too weak to really test each other's defenses. I couldn't say that I minded, better our training take longer and not end up with any budding Dark Ladies.


	37. Chapter 37

**AN: **This chapter did not want to be written.

**Chapter 37**

**The First Rule of Flight Club Is...**

_Dresden_

In the stories adventures usually start one of two ways. Either with a _day like any other_ or a day that _starts_ with a stubbed toe and _ends_ in a multiple homicide. In my experience, and boy do I have experience, it's usually the latter.

But today? Today was a good day. Not only had I finished a case for a wealthy client and in doing so gotten enough money to pay off this and next month's rent, I had finally, _finally_, found a way to help Susan Rodriguez with her vampire problem. I was in such a good mood that I nearly missed the simple white envelope sitting innocently against the door to my basement apartment.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at it. Waiting for it to sprout fangs and attack.

You laugh, but it's happened.

After a long moment, in which the envelope failed to reveal its nefarious purpose, I extended my Wizardly senses and failed to find anything out of the ordinary. I nodded, picked up the envelope and made my way into my apartment.

I spent the next minute trying to shut the door. Unfortunately, zombie hordes had no appreciation for quality craftsmanship which left my door on the wrong side of functional. I heard a long suffering sigh behind me before I was nudged out of the way by my miniature stegosaurus Mouse, who closed the door with one swift push.

"Showoff," I muttered as I made my way to the kitchen area and filled up Mouse's food bowl. A happy wuff was his response. I grabbed a coke from my icebox before flopping onto my couch. I examined the envelope as I took a long drink. I arched a brow when I noticed that it was addressed to my office. "Curiouser and curiouser," I held out it out to Mouse. "What do you think?"

He sniffed it, sneezed, cocked his head to the side, sniffed again, before settling down for a nap.

"Well alright then." I started to open the envelope when the phone rang. I picked the phone up. "Hello," I said, idly widening the tear with my free hand.

"Hello lover," Susan purred.

"Susan," I felt the corners of my lips turn up. Today was definitely a good day. "It's good to hear from you. How've you been?"

I heard muted conversation for a moment before she responded.

Susan sighed. "Sorry to cut this short but things are heating up down here. The Red Court is gearing up for something big and we've been running around trying to find out what it is."

"Susan, I," I hesitated. I'd looked for years for a cure. Nearly drove myself insane trying to find a way to help her and if it hadn't been for that phone call I'd still be looking.

"Harry?" Susan asked, concerned.

"I found it Susan. I found a way to help you," I said.

"What?"

"It's not a cure, and I still need someone from the Fellowship to try it on, but I," My voice caught. "I've got it."

For a long moment, there was only silence, until finally, hesitantly she asked, "You're sure?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there in a few days," Susan said, before disconnecting.

"I'll be waiting," I said and hung up the phone.

I turned my attention back to the letter. I finished opening it and…

"Pick up, pick up, _pick up!_"

**888**

With the letter to Dresden done with and Occlumency practice continuing apace, there was only one thing left for me to focus on.

Uncle Moony.

I barely knew him. I had known him for less than a year and most of that time was spent either bawling my eyes out or in a drug induced stupor. He shouldn't have been important to me.

_And_ _yet_.

I found myself seeking him out anyway.

"Today we are going to try our hands at an obstacle course," Uncle Moony gestured at the Quidditch pitch behind him. Floating behind him was a corkscrew shape of floating objects. Starting at ground level it wound it's way across the field, in between the stands, and ended at the goals on the far side of the pitch. "I want you all to take it slow your first time through. This is not a race and I don't want anyone getting hurt trying to beat someone else's time."

He pressed his wand in the base of the central goal post. From where I stood I could barely make out a bunch of squiggles that briefly flared before fading from view. The corkscrew flared as well before the floating objects making it up started to move. Floating doors started to open and close, groups of balls moved in orbits that occasionally open enough for someone to pass through and planks of wood started spinning, alone and in groups. A faint blue light covered the course providing illumination and setting the boundaries of the corkscrew.

Uncle Moony turned back towards the group, a faint grin tugging at his lips. "Well? Let's have some fun!"

Despite Uncle Moony's warnings, the first few students tried to blast through the course and ended up falling from their brooms onto the thoroughly charmed ground below. When it was finally my turn I made it most of the way through before a group of spheres slammed into me, knocking off my broom. I hit the ground with enough force to knock the air out of me. I gasped for breath even as my vision swam before me.

"Ms. Potter? Are you ok?," Lupin asked, having somehow gotten right next to me without me noticing. A look of deep concern etched on his face. I managed to nod, still trying to force some air into my oxygen deprived lungs. "Would you like to go the Hospital Wing?"

I shook my head before rasping, "No, fine."

"Right then, let's clear the area so the next person can go," He nodded, hesitated a moment before helping me to my feet. I summoned my broom to me before following him the start of the course.

**888**

It took me three more tries before I was able to complete the course, and even then I the third longest time out of the entire club. Considering that the rest of the class, not including Roger Davis, had at least a year of practice on me I didn't feel too badly about it.

"Good job everybody," Uncle Moony said. "I'm planning something fun for next week so I hope I see everybody then!"

As the rest of the class started making their way back towards the castle Roger walked over to me. "Do you want to walk back to the dorms together?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, no. I need to talk with the Professor."

"Oh," Roger said. "I can wait if you want?"

"That's ok, it's probably going to take a while and I don't want to hold you up," I said smiling. "Later!"

"Later," Roger sighed before heading towards the castle.

Uncle Moony was directing the last of the obstacle course into the storage room under the faculty stand as I came up behind him. I took a moment to really look at him.

The Remus I was expecting was haggard, old before his time. Worn from a life of fear and loss. Uncle Moony looked young, twitchy and too skinny for comfort but altogether healthier than I was expecting.

"Yes, Ms. Potter?" Uncle Moony asked, swishing his wand to close the storage room door, before turning to face me. I caught his eye. Wolf, close to the surface. He flinched and averted his eyes.

"We really need to talk," I said mentally nudging Wolf back. That was a stronger reaction than I was expected, but if it made him take this seriously so be it.

He nodded, frowning. "Right, follow me." He turned and made for the fireplace at the back of the stands. He grabbed a pinch of Floo powder and threw it into the fire. "Professor Lupin's office." He walked through without looking back.

I grimaced.

Maybe I came on too strong?

I sighed and followed him through.

The room was more _bare_ than I hanging on the walls, an empty desk and only the faintest traces of his scent. I frowned, I wasn't anticipating Dumbledore levels of decoration, but I had expected something.

Uncle Moony moved to sit behind the desk, the set of his shoulders eased once it was between us. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Some hot chocolate would be nice," I said as I sat down on the only other chair.

He nodded. "I think I'll have some tea and biscuits, enough for two." A moment later a tray arrived and he started fixing his tea, ladling in sugar before reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a metal canteen.

My brow arched when he poured a good dash of clear liquid into the tea. Alcohol, really? Had I rattled him that much?

"_Not alcohol, potion_," Wolf said.

"_An ageing potion, going by the scent_," Said Dragon, something like sympathy coloring her tone. My eyes widened and I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat.

"You going to drink that? I promise it's quite good," Uncle Moony said glancing at me.

I hastily picked up the saucer of hot chocolate and took a drink, hardly registering the taste or the heat.

Of the multiple kinds of werewolves, only Tier Welshers could forcibly change you into a werewolf. Unlike what popular fiction would have you believe a bite is nowhere near enough to change you. It takes a mauling so severe that the victim nearly dies. Even in controlled conditions, the survival rate was horrible.

But for those who do survive the turn, there came a host of benefits. Increased strength, speed, endurance and most importantly _immortality_. The catch is that the immortality starts right away. For most people that's not too bad, their healing is so good that there is no difference between someone turned at eighty or someone turned at thirty.

But for someone changed as a child, say pre-Hogwarts, then they stay a child.

The silence stretched on, becoming almost deafening, as the both of us focused on our drinks. Until I finally couldn't take it any longer. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for insisting on this meeting, but when you didn't approach me, last class, I thought it was best that we get this out of the way."

"Oh?" He asked.

"As I'm sure you know when unfamiliar werewolves are obliged to spend time together in the same area it is customary for them to," I hesitated for a moment, "establish a pecking order."

"That's usually only done when they are Tier Welshers and I was given to understand that you aren't one," Lupin said formally, his hands entwined on the desk.

"True, but my wolf is, or was, a Hexenwolf and they're just as. " Don't say crazy. Don't say crazy. "Territorial as any Tier Welsher."

"Fine," Lupin sighed. He sat up straight, his eyes gained confidence, and his body language became altogether more confrontational. Gone was the meek flight professor, the threadbare outcast. In his place sat a survivor. Someone who had seen the worst the world had to offer and came out swinging.

Wolf surged to the forefront, her eager grin spread across my face.

And thus began the most intense staring contest ever.

**888**

Lupin looked at me.

I looked at him.

Time passes.

"No urge to look away?" I asked.

"Not particularly," Lupin said, eyes locked on mine even as he took a sip of tea. "But then I've never met a werewolf who could make me look away."

I frowned, this wasn't going like I expected. Usually, when a dominant wolf looked at there was a weight, an almost physical force to their gaze, that demanded submission. I wasn't feeling anything like that. Which should have meant that he was a submissive wolf, but a submissive wolf would have conceded already. More to the point, they wouldn't get into the staring contest in the first place.

My frown deepened and Wolf eased back. "Omega?"

Uncle Moony blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"You're not dominant or submissive, and as a Tier Welsher you have to be one or the other," I said. "_Unless_ you're an Omega."

"What, exactly, is an Omega?" Uncle Moony asked, eyebrow furring.

It was my turn to blink.

"You don't know?" I shook my head. "Of course, you don't. If you knew, you wouldn't ask." I took a deep breath and released it. "An Omega is quite possibly the single most valuable type of werewolf there is."

"Valuable?" Lupin murmured.

I waited for him to say something else but when he didn't I pressed on. "Yes, valuable. If a submissive wolf is one in a million, an Omega is one in a billion. An Omega is a dominant who doesn't need to be in charge and a submissive that feels no compulsion to submit. All the calming effects of a submissive wolf coupled with the ability to tell an Alpha to go f-to stuff it," I coughed. "Should the need arise."

"Should the need arise?" Uncle Moony raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," I said, averting my eyes.

"Hmm," Uncle Moony leaned back in his chair.

**888**

"_That went better than I expected_," Dragon said. In my mind's eye, I could see her laying on the couch in my part of our mindscape.

"Really?" I asked absently as I tried to find my way to the Ravenclaw dorms. I had started on the third floor after leaving Uncle Moony's office but going by what the windows were showing I had somehow made my way six floors over the top of Astronomy Tower, despite never taking the stairs. The fact that the Astronomy tower was supposed to be the tallest part of Hogwarts barely even registered. "It's not usually this hard to get around."

I sighed, I should have just taken the Floo.

At least the sunset made for a pretty sight.

"_Yes, really. We didn't get in a fight and we got invited back for tea. All in all a good days work_," Dragon said.

"You smell that?" I asked.

"_Smoke_?" Wolf suggested.

"Too early for the torches to be lit," I said. Most people wouldn't be able to smell the smoke from the torches. They were, after all, magic torches. Werewolves weren't most people. I took a deep breath, drawing the air over my tongue, and frowned. "Cigarettes?"

A second later Professors Lockhart and McGonagall rounded the corner. Lockhart was smoking while McGonagall watched him with a pinched look. They slowed to a stop when the saw me standing in the middle of the hallway.

"A little late for a walk, isn't it Miss Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked arching her brow.

Before I could respond Professor Lockhart chimed in. "She's probably just lost her way, with how the hallways are moving about even I'm having trouble getting around." He looked at me inquiringly. "Isn't that right Miss Potter?"

I started to reply but Professor McGonagall interrupted me before I could speak. "I'm sure she can speak for herself, _Gilderoy_." I wasn't even the one she was talking to and I cringed. Professor Lockhart's only response was an easy smile and a puff of smoke. McGonagall narrowed her eyes at him before raising her wand in a swirling pattern. "_Praestrangulo_." The faint glow from Lockhart's cigarette went out. "No smoking in front of the students."

"If you insist," Professor Lockhart tucked the cigarette behind his ear with a sigh. "Well Miss Potter, as late as it is I'm afraid we will have to escort you to Ravenclaw Tower. Otherwise, you'll miss curfew."

I nodded and followed them down the dark, torch-lit, corridors.

**888**

As annoying as it was to find my way around with the Siege Wards active, there was one benefit I certainly wasn't complaining about. With Hogwarts providing power to the school's ghosts directly they were much more lively than usual. Which meant that for once History of Magic was actually interesting.

"Since its establishment by the Founders, Hogwarts has remained a neutral party in the affairs of the world. This has not always been an accepted fact, of course. During the Founder's tenure and for centuries afterward, attempts were made to conquer Hogwarts. Each and everyone was rebuffed without a single casualty on the part of the defenders," Professor Binns voice, usually a monotone so boring that even Hermione would be flagging by the end of class, had some _actual emotion_.

I was half convinced the world was ending. That fact that Binns had been staring at us since class started only strengthened that feeling.

I leaned towards Hermione. "Is it just me or is he staring at you?"

Hermione glanced up from her notes for a moment before returning to her work. "I think he's staring at you, actually."

"In the year 1372 during the third Gringotts Goblin rebellion King Sharp-Fang the Brutal laid siege to Hogwarts in an attempt to seize the Wanded Council's children. So as to force an end to the current war, in such a way that greatly favored his clan…"

I looked up at the Professor through my bangs and hummed thoughtfully. It was hard to tell if Binns was staring at me or Hermione. Situated as we were at the back of the room and at the same table. That said, I was willing to bet that he was looking Hermione.

"...the siege lasted for nearly a month. During that time Sharp-Fang's forces made a constant effort to break through the school's wards. Theses attempts met with no success. The war was becoming untenable with the other Gringotts clans and the Wanded Council's forces raiding his encampment daily. At this point, desperation began to set in set in.

"Faced with defeat Sharp-Fang enacted a scheme that would be his ultimate downfall," A frown crept onto Binns face as he continued. "Utilizing his people's skills with runecraft and enchantment and a kidnapped child slated to go to Hogwarts the next year, he crafted a weapon. Sharp-Fang sent this child through the wards, they, of course, recognized him as a potential student and allowed him access. The child never made it to the castle.

"Sharp-Fangs enchantments activated before the child stepped inside and blew him up. The enchantment was not merely an explosive force, but a mystical one as well. It started a cataclysmic Ward Transitional Failure that, with any _other_ ward scheme, would have completely neutralized the wards.

"As it was it forced Hogwarts to go on the offensive," Professor Binns' stare, already intense, gained a whole new level of force. "The inevitable product of this offensive was, of course, the _complete annihilation of the goblin forces._"

I imagine that class' reaction would have been notable if Hermione and I weren't the only ones awake. Given that Hermione was too busy writing her notes and I was rooted in place by the force of Professor Binns stare, the only reaction exhibited was a chorus of snoring and the faint sound of quill on parchment.

The bell rang waking the class from their afternoon nap. The students stood obscuring me from Professor Binns' gaze, which shook me from my stupor. I got my feet and stretched, deliberately turning my back on the front of the room.

"Hey, before you put that away can I get a copy?" I asked.

"Sure," Hermione said before performing the _Geminio_ spell on her notes and handing me the copies. "Why? You don't usually bother with Professor Binns' class."

I stuck the parchment up my sleeve as we made our way out of the classroom. "He broke pattern, people rarely break their pattern. Ghosts _never_ break their pattern unless prompted."

"It's probably just the wards," Hermione said as we turned right down a new intersection.

"Possibly, but better safe than sorry," I said before cocking my head to the side. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Hermione asked.

"Sounds like someone's crying," I said. The further down the hall we got the louder it got until finally, Hermione could hear it. We traded looks before we started hurrying. In the next hallway tucked in between two suites of armor sat the huddled form of Luna Lovegood.

I frowned. She wasn't just sitting between the armors and crying she had pushed herself as close to the wall as possible. Like she was hiding from something.

"_I don't smell anything_," Wolf said.

I nodded and closed my eyes.

Breath. Focus. _Sense_.

I cast my senses outward looking for something, anything, out of the ordinary. The constant volcanic eruption of power that Hogwarts was the first thing that I felt but I dealt with that every day and quickly tuned it out. I smelt the faintest hint of graveyard air, but when I focused on it the smell faded.

I tilted my head. The leftover traces of a spell? I focused my senses but the graveyard sent was gone but in its place, I felt duality. Here but there. My stomach turned the more I focused on it. So instead I turned my attention to Luna.

Seeing.

Understanding.

Pain.

I opened my eyes to see Hermione on the floor next to Luna. Holding her, trying to calm her down with whispered words but she paid Hermione no mind. Her blue eyes were locked on me and when she noticed me looking her cries turned into violent gasps for air.

"_Stupefy_," I said. My spell hit and Luna's eyes closed, her breath eased and the tension left her body.

"Alex, why did you stun the panicking first year?" Hermione asked.

"Yes Potter," Ernie Mcmillan asked from somewhere behind me. "Why did you stun the first year?"


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

**Winter's Coming**

I let out a frustrated sigh and turned around. Apparently while I was distracted a group of second year Hufflepuffs had managed to sneak up behind us.

"Well Potter?" Ernie said. "I'm waiting."

I felt my eye twitch.

"I stunned her because she was having a panic attack and I could not remember the sleeping charm," I said as calmly as possible. "Now if that's all, Hermione and I are going to take Lovegood to the Hospital Wing."

"Really? Because it looks to me like you were tormenting the poor first and now you're trying to cover it up," Ernie said.

"How, exactly, is taking her to the Hospital Wing going to 'cover it up'?" I asked, my patience wearing thin. I needed to get Luna to Madam Pomfrey quickly. She should be okay while she was unconscious, but with what I sensed I had no idea if that was true or if she was still Seeing too much. "You know what, nevermind. If you're worried that I'm going to do something to her than I invite you to come with us."

That seemed to catch Ernie flat footed, so I turned and was about to cast the levitation charm when Perks–_that bitch_–piped in.

"I don't think Lovegood should go anywhere with you. I don't know what you did to her but…"

"Alex, didn't do anything!" Hermione said, easing Luna to the ground before standing.

"_But_," Perks repeated. "She looked like she was calming down until you looked at her. So why don't we take her to the Hospital Wing and Ernie can go with you to get a Professor." She said everything in a calm and reasonable voice that, quite frankly, made me want to punch her. But that was just my–entirely reasonable–dislike of her shining through so I ignored the urge.

"I'm sorry but there is information that I have that Madam Pomfrey will need. So I have to go," I said.

"So tell Sally," Ernie said, "and she will tell Madam Pomfrey." Next to him Perks and Zacharias Smith, the last Hufflepuff of their group, nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, but I'm going," I said.

"No Potter, you're not," Ernie said drawing his wand. Perks and Smith followed suit.

I stared at them for a moment before I started laughing. There was just something so absurd about the situation that I couldn't help myself. I covered my face with my hands and kept laughing.

"Alex?" Hermione asked, concern coloring her tone.

"I'm fine," I sighed, dropped my hands just so, and shook my head. The Hufflepuffs looked angry. Right, probably shouldn't have laughed at them. "Look, I'm going if you want to come, great. If not, great. Either way I'm done talking." I gave them a moment to do something before nodding and turning around.

I frowned when three voices roared out, "_Stupefy_!"

Hermione's wand snapped up. "_Protego_!"

I whirled around intime to see three red streaks slam into Hermione's hastily conjured shield. Hermione grunted but the spells failed to penetrate. Hermione dropped her shield and I raised my wand, pushing more power than was probably necessary into my own spell.

"_Stupefy_!" My spell hit home and Perks dropped. I jumped to the side to avoid Smith and Ernie's return fire before firing another stunner at Smith. Smith dropped and a split second later Hermione's own stunner hit Smith's toppling body.

"_Protego_." I raised my shield just in time to block Ernie's stunner. I held it steady as he fired again and again, each stunner hitting my shield with no visible effect. "Here's how it's going to go. Either Hermione is going to stun you and then we go to the Hospital Wing or you help us get everyone to the Hospital Wing. Either way, we are going to the Hospital Wing."

Ernie's face was drawn, his eyes flicked around nervously.

"Come on Ernie, be smart. We just want to get to Madam Pomfrey, after that we'll wait for the Professors before doing anything else," I smiled reassuringly.

Ernie blanched before turning tail and running for all he was worth.

I blinked.

"That was unexpected," I said before shaking my head. "Right, let's get theses three to the Hospital Wing before Ernie convinces Professor Sprout that we tried to kill him."

"Alex, your teeth are," Hermione trailed off. "Well they're sharp."

I tongued the back of my teeth. "What the hell?" I got out my mirror from my sleeve. My teeth looked like they belonged on a shark or a, "Dragon!"

My head was suddenly filled with laughter.

"_Did you see his face_?" Dragon asked. "_Priceless_!"

"You realize you just made this so much worse," I said. At Hermione inquisitive look I pointed to my head. She nodded in understanding.

"_But it was funny, huh?_" Dragon said.

I just sighed and got to work.

I could have just carried them or put them in my sleeves, but those options both revealed things I didn't want the rest of the school knowing. In the end Hermione and I went with the 'levitating transfigured board' method of transportation. With judicious use of sticking charms to ensure that everyone stayed in place.

We managed to get to the Hospital Wing without encountering anyone. Infact we managed to get everyone off the board and on to their own beds before Madam Pomfrey even left her office.

"Whats all this then?" Madam Pomfrey demanded.

I quickly described the conflict with the Hufflepuffs. "But that's not the important part. Luna, she," I shook my head. "She was using her Sight."

Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened and she hurried over to Luna's bed and started casting spells. Some of the basic diagnostic spells I recognized from my reading, but most were over my head.

"Her Sight? But we aren't supposed to learn how to use that until sixth year," Hermione said. With the fight done we had rushed over here as fast as possible, leaving little room for conversation on the way.

"And there's a very good reason for that Ms. Granger," Madam Pomfrey said. "The Sight is dangerous, very dangerous. See the wrong thing, or even the right thing and it can easily cause mental instability." She summed a potion vial from a nearby shelf, carefully poured it into Luna's mouth, before using a spell that made the first year swallow.

Mental instability was putting it mildly. The Sight let you see the world as it truly was and it never let you forget. All the comforting illusions stripped away. Every inconvenient truth seared into your soul.

And poor Luna had gotten a front row seat of me and head mates.

"Will she be alright?" I asked.

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey said, before moving to check on the Hufflepuffs. "Some calming draughts, something to make sure her Sight is closed, some time to adjust and she should make a full recovery."

"Good." I nodded.

Professor McGonagall chose that moment to bustle into the Hospital Wing a severe look on her face. "Ms. Potter, Ms. Granger, I just heard the oddest tale of fighting in the corridors. Would you care to share your side of the story?"

Hermione and I exchanged a look, before she took her turn explaining what happened. By the time she was finished Professor McGonagall's expression had shifted to one of concern.

"Is that true, Madam Pomfrey?" Professor McGonagall asked, moving closer to Luna's bed.

"It is," Madam Pomfrey said, between casting spells over the Hufflepuffs "At least as far as Ms. Lovegood using her Sight is concerned."

Luna screamed and sat bolt upright, sweat slicked hair sticking to her face. Professor McGonagall hand found Luna's shoulder and she stared into the blond's eyes a worried frown tugging at her lips. Her scream cut off, Luna closed her eyes, curled in on herself, and started shaking.

Professor McGonagall stood back, her face absent any emotion, as Madam Pomfrey closed on the bed, another potion vial in her hand. The Professor stood there for a moment before shaking herself and hustling us out of the room and to her office.

Ernie was waiting there with Professor Sprout.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout went into an adjoining room leaving Hermione and I with Ernie.

"So Potter, ready to get what's coming to you?" Ernie said.

I turned away, I had to ignore him. If I didn't I'd do something regrettable.

"What's your problem?" Hermione demanded.

"My problem?" Ernie mocked. "I don't have a problem, but Potter does."

"Oh," Hermione said when I continued to look away. "And what is her problem?"

"She's arrogant, she's a glory hound and she consorts with ghosts!" Ernie said.

Well, they consort with me. If you want to be accurate.

"She's been nothing but nice to you and the ghost wanted to talk to her not the other way around!" Hermione said. I nodded in agreement, exactly!

"I've seen the way she looks at us when she thinks no one's looking!" Ernie shouted. "She is a menace! She hates Hufflepuffs!"

Not true. I only hated one Hufflepuff. I just disliked Ernie.

"Is that why you attacked her from behind?" Hermione demanded.

"Yes!" Ernie said.

Hermione just stared at him for a moment before she started smirking.

A second later the Professors walked back into the room with frowns on their faces and dark eyes for Ernie.

Needless to say nither Hermione or I received detention.

**888**

As happy as I was that we didn't get detention, in fact we earned House points, the rest of the school seemed to disagree. Well the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors at least.

"They're staring again," Padma said idly cutting her pancake.

"Oh?" I mumbled around a breakfast sausage. I twisted around and waved at the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables. Most of the onlookers turned back to their breakfasts, to those who kept looking I offered a megawatt smile before going back to my meal.

"The Hufflepuffs I understand, but why are the Gryffindors glaring at you?" Anthony asked.

I finished my sausage and shrugged. "Who knows, maybe they think Hufflepuffs are innocent my default." I smiled when Dragon muttered 'Incompetent by default, maybe.'

"They start a fight, lose and then have the audacity to blame you," Hermione harrumphed. "Didn't even mention me."

"Granger, are you upset that they're playing the victim or because you didn't play a starring role in their story?" Pansy asked amused.

Hermione glared at Pansy over the top of my head.

"Clearly she's upset that they don't recognize her evil genius," I said. "I was just a pawn in her master plan. No choice in the matter really." Hermione turned her glare to me and I cowered against Pansy.

"Clearly," Pansy agreed, resting a protective arm over my shoulder.

Hermione's glare turned into a smirk before she went back to her food.

Pansy and I exchanged worried looks.

Padma laughed.

"What?" I asked, eyeing Hermione.

"Oh nothing," Padma said looking at the three of us. "Nothing at all."

**888**

Sweat dripped down my body and landed in a steadily growing pool under my head. I flexed my arms, slowly pushing my body up before, equally slowly, lowering myself stopping just before the top of my head could touch the puddle.

I let a satisfied smile work its way onto my face.

This was by far the most vertical pushups that I had ever managed in on one go. Not that the workout was really the point. There was only so much strength that could be eked out of a prepubescent body and given my schedule I was already getting as much as I could ask for.

No.

Far more important than the pushups themselves, was how I was able to do so many. Namely communing with Wolf and Dragon, allowing our minds and strengths to mix. Going from three distinct entities to one unified whole. Perspectives intertwined, senses at once new and familiar. Sight, sound, smell all magnified a hundredfold.

The concentration necessary to maintain this blending was prohibitive, not something I could yet manage sparing, let alone in the stress of actual combat. Still just the possibility was so enticing I couldn't help but try.

I shifted my weight so that I was balanced on just one hand, my other hand held out to the side. I slowly started moving again. Aside from the future prospects I had to admit that vertical pushups just looked cool. Which was, I had to admit, a quarter of the reason I did anything.

"Hey Alex," Hermione said, completely shattering my concentration. The sure and inexhaustible strength faded from my arms leaving them little more than limp noodles. I fell face first into the puddle below me. As exhausted as I was it took a good ten seconds before I worked up the energy to roll away.

There was a moment of entirely too smug silence before Hermione spoke again. "Are you alright?" She asked her tone one of complete innocences.

I reached up and slowly wiped my face off. "Fine." I opened my eyes and glared balefully at her. "Was there something you needed?"

"Pansy's already left for the night," Hermione said, "and if we don't want to be late we need to be going."

"That late already," I mused making no move to get up.

Last year it didn't matter if Pansy didn't make a show of going to her room. Slytherins all got their own rooms and little attention was spent ensuring that everyone was in house come curfew. This year the Professors were paying closer attention as anyone who wasn't in their dorm by curfew had a fair chance of being lost instead of just canoodling about. Which meant that Pansy had to be seen going to her room before using the portal join us.

"Yes, it is. So let's get going," Hermione said motioning to the stairs. We were currently on the sixth floor of the Room's Library and the thought of going down those stairs and then making our way to our room had absolutely no appeal.

"Or we could just stay and watch the snowfall," I said and turned my head towards the nearby window.

In my last life snow was at best a once a year thing, and despite twelve years of much more frequent snowfall, watching the snow pile up was still as magical as ever. Which was why I was on the sixth floor in the first place. On on the other side of the floor there was a window showing a scene of a picturesque meadow in summer time. This window showed a frozen plain and in the distance there was a great frozen citadel.

At least that's what it usually showed.

Right now it was showing two people going at it like a pair of rabbits.

Angry rabbits.

The woman I knew immediately was Mab. Long flowing white hair, pale skin, green slit eyes and a presence that–even in a simple reflection–demanded respect and obedience.

The man, who I presumed to be Harry Dresden, did not look to be enjoying himself. Despite the presumably pleasurable activity in which he was engaged.

It may have had something to do with how rough he looked. Beaten and bloody, bags black as pitch under his eyes and his clothes were torn to shreds. Though whether that happened before he met Mab, I could not say.

Behind me, I heard a squeak as Hermione finally noticed what I was looking at. "Whats going on?!"

"Ma-The reining Winter Queen is anointing a new knight," I said faintly. Mab's smile, already twisted with fierce pleasure, widened just a little and her eyes seemed to look at me.

Oh dear.

"_Like that?_" Hermione demanded blushing, looking firmly away.

Adrenalin sent my heart thundering. I jumped to my feet and grabbed Hermione's hand. "It's late, we should go to our room. Now!"

"What about a shower?" Hermione asked as we descended the stairs. "You really need one."

"I'll shower when we get to the dorms." I said focused on just getting out, because suddenly The Room Of Requirement didn't feel safe any more.

**888**

We made to Ravenclaw House in short order and once again Hermione answered the Knockers riddle before we'd even had a chance to slow down. A good thing too, as agitated as I was answering riddles seemed daunting prospect.

My housemates were accustomed to my oddities and would not usually give us a second glace. Today seemed to be an exception. Between the entrance and the stairwell we managed to draw the eyes of most of the common room. Thankfully no one said anything, but I could practically feel the stares following us as we ascended the stairs.

Their attention slid from my mind the moment we entered our room. I had much bigger things to worry about.

I was not a pacer by nature. When something shocked me I usually froze. My mind would take on the quality of molasses, things simply would not register. I'd stop and try to take things in, to understand, but more often than not the full impact of any revelation would be blunted.

Useful in some situations, horrible in others.

This time, though I just felt numb.

Once in the room I dropped into my desk chair and tried to process what just happened. Of course, before I could even begin Pansy–when had she gotten here?–and Hermione started talking.

"What happened?" Pansy asked, coming up behind me. She put her hand on my shoulder and I leaned into it.

"I'm not sure," Hermione said, worried. "The Room showed us Mab have-_doing that_, with someone and then Alex started panicking. She dragged me all the here before collapsing onto the chair. She hasn't said anything since we got here."

Pansy bent down and looked me in the eyes. "Alex, do you have any Calming Drought?"

Of course I did. Madam Pomfrey gave me one incase I had another freak out. I tried to tell Pansy that but my mouth didn't seem to be working so I just nodded.

"Good. I need you to get it," Pansy said. "Can you do that for me?"

Again my voice failed me so I nodded.

I reached into my sleeve and pulled out the bottle of Calming Drought. It took more time than simply saying the name of what I wanted but it worked. I tried to open it but I couldn't get the stopper out. After a few failed attempts Pansy took it from me, opened it, and held it to my lips before tilting my head back.

The moment the potion entered me it started working. My heart started beating normally, my breathing which had reached a uncomfortable rhythm, slowed and my thoughts flew freely.

"Better?" Pansy pulled the glass vial away.

I blinked. "Much."

"So what happened?" Pansy asked.

"Dresden is the new Winter Knight, the Room of Requirement is part of the Nevernever and The Reigning Winter Queen smiled _and_ _looked at me_ when I said her name," I said, detached. The Room being part of the Nevernever was worrying but not overly so. Mab noticing me was by far the most troubling. Nearly troubling enough for me to feel it through the Calming Drought.

But only nearly.

Thankfully.

"Oh," Hermione said.

"The Nevernever, you're sure?" Pansy asked, taking a seat on the bed and taking me with her.

"Almost positive," I said, tilting my head.

"A controlled pocket of the Nevernever," Hermione said, consideringly."I've never heard of anything like that."

"I have," Pansy said, for some reason holding herself still. "But it takes power, lots of power. The kind of power that makes you a god, or something like it. Gods, Fay Queens…ArchDemons, they can all manipulate their domain, their portion of the Nevernever, to their will."

"The kind of power you might find on a Nexus of Ley Lines?" I asked, looking at her, concern making itself known even through the soothing feel of the Calming Drought. I took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Yes," Pansy said, smiling softly. "That kind of power exactly."

"Okay, so that means the question becomes, does this change anything?" Hermione asked. "Because, as far as the Room goes, I don't think it does."

"What about something attacking us while we're in the Room?" I asked, fighting the urge to frown when Pansy started tensing up again. "Going from the Nevernever to Earth is difficult for anything not from Earth but going from part of the Nevernever another is much easier."

Hermione shook her head definitively. "Hogwarts has never been attack from the Nevernever, it's actually impossible to open a Way within the wards. In _Hogwarts: A History_ there are multiple mentions of people that, for one reason or another, tried to attack from the Nevernever. King Sharp-Fang in particular actually sent multiple detachments into the Nevernever but they were never seen again. _Anything_ that tries is never heard from again."

"You know, as hard as it is to break into Hogwarts, I'm starting to wonder if a school was all the Founders were trying to build," I said. "I mean, Gringotts goblins wared with the Erlking. They didn't win but they didn't exactly lose either, but somehow Hogwarts is completely impervious to them?"

"Everything I've read says that a school was always the end goal." Hermione shrugged. "Not that it matters now, though it would be an interesting research project for later."

"Yes," Pansy said slowly, eyes focused on Hermione. "Yes, it would."

I stood and stretched, my workout was starting to catch up with me. "I need to take a shower, but before I do, are we still planing to use the Room?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "It's perfectly safe. Hogwarts wouldn't let anything happen to us."

I looked to Pansy to see if she had anything to say but she just shrugged. "If Hermione thinks its safe."

"Alright," I said, "we keep using the Room." I started for the door.

"Alex?" Pansy said. I stopped and looked back. Pansy motioned towards my head. "Your hair."

I usually have my hair down to about mid-back but when I work out it gets in the way. So I shorten it to a pixy cut and grow it out again before leaving the Room. This time I had forgotten to grow it back out.

I ran my hand through my hair and winced. Or I would have winced if I wasn't still calmed. As it was I felt a dull wince like sensation.

"Thanks," I said, growing it back to its usual length before leaving. There were multiple potions that could be used to regrow hair in short order. No one would suspect a thing


End file.
